Washington bill would give unemployment benefits to illegal immigrants

Illegal immigrants would receive unemployment benefits if one Washington lawmaker gets her way.

Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, recently filed a bill that would make the state’s estimated…

Illegal immigrants would receive unemployment benefits if one Washington lawmaker gets her way.

Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, recently filed a bill that would make the state’s estimated 156,000 illegal immigrant workers eligible for unemployment insurance.

​​“We know that inaction and hostility to the immigrant workforce is really harmful to a place like Washington state,” Saldaña told Washington State Standard. “It’s all the more reason why I believe, right now, is the time that we need a state program.”

In the past decade, illegal immigrants working in agriculture, hospitality, construction and retail have reportedly contributed almost $400 million to the state’s unemployment funds via payroll taxes, the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network claims.

Under the Democrat’s bill, a third-party administrative system would manage the unemployment benefits for illegal immigrants rather than the state’s Employment Security Department. Saldaña claims this would decrease expenses and prevent employers from being held liable for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants – which is a crime.

The program would cost the state about $100 million in its first two-year budget cycle and $140 million in the following cycle, the report said; over 5,300 illegal immigrants would benefit from it annually, meaning the state would spend more than $9,400 per immigrant annually during the first two years, and more during the next two years. 

The bill has received pushback from the business sector, arguing that it would raise costs and take away incentives for legal work. 

“Helping more workers obtain the necessary visas to work legally in our state is a better option because then they could take advantage of the state’s existing unemployment system,” Janelle Guthrie, a spokesperson for the Building Industry Association of Washington, told the Standard. 

Senate Minority Leader John Braun, a Republican, responded to the bill by saying he thinks immigration is a federal issue. 

“We have a lot of work to do on immigration, both on undocumented immigrants and on legal immigration in our state. That’s largely a federal issue,” he told Fox News. “I look for the folks in D.C. to handle [the immigration issue] and for us [in state government] to stay clear.” 

Saldaña also filed the bill last session, but it didn’t come up for a vote. 

Colorado already has unemployment benefits for illegal immigrants. Gov. Jared Polis signed the measure into law in 2022. Since then, the state has set about $15 million aside annually for those benefits. 

The Federation for American Immigration Reform says illegal immigrants cost American taxpayers at least $150 billion annually. Adding more social programs for them would increase that cost.