A politician in Washington state wants to know why cooperating with federal immigration authorities landed a state trooper in hot water.

Steve O'Ban, R, a state senator from Tacoma, Wa., sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, D, Friday expressing "serious concerns" over an administrative review the Washington State Patrol may be undertaking at the governor's request.

An unnamed state trooper is being grilled for telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement about one of their suspects last week, wanted on a felony warrant and found after a traffic accident on I-5.

That man is Armando Chavez Corona, who ICE says was convicted on a felony drug charge and departed to Mexico four times from 1996 to 2000.

The trooper did not detain Chavez Corona, who was not at fault in the accident, but ICE picked him up at the scene of the collision after the trooper contacted the agency. He currently awaits deportation.

"The State Patrol is reviewing whether the trooper followed an internal policy that limits how much troopers can do to help federal immigration officials," reported the Tacoma News Tribune Friday.

O'Ban insinuated in his letter that Inslee is politicizing what should be a law enforcement issue.

"I'm concerned that this investigation is motivated at least in part by the governor nationalizing this issue, when it shouldn't be," he said.

In the letter, he warned, "Let us be clear, the issues raised here are not controversies of the new administration but are policies and practices of the Obama administration.

"President Obama himself stated, 'If you're a criminal, you'll be deported.'

"In addition, under President Obama an individual with an 'aggravated felony' was a top priority for deportation."

Inslee so far has not responded to the senator's letter. In the past he has set himself firmly against Donald Trump's immigration policies.

Last June, Washington's governor denounced candidate Trump as a "clear and present danger to our state."