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Washington Dems Want To Give Illegal Immigrants Unemployment Benefits

Washington Democrats are once again proposing to give illegal immigrants who are not authorized to work in the US unemployment benefits, despite a massive budget deficit.

Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle) has re-introduced a bill for the new legislative session that began on Monday to help the illegals access unemployment insurance, a program funded with federal and state payroll taxes that are withheld from an employee’s paycheck.

Illegal immigrants are not eligible to apply for work permits and, therefore, unable to register or file for unemployment compensation under federal law. According to the Washington State Standard, over 156,000 illegal immigrants are employed in Washington state.

SB 5023 would require state funds to be set aside for the program for illegal immigrants who don’t qualify for unemployment insurance because of their immigration status. They would be referred through the Employment Security Department’s website to a different website which would be run through a third-party administrative system.

Saldana claims this would protect the identities of illegal immigrants by preventing employers from being held liable for knowingly hiring people without legal immigration status. The program would cost approximately $100 million in the first two-year budget cycle and $140 million in the next cycle, benefiting more than 5,300 workers each year.

Washington is facing a $10-17 billion budget deficit. Incoming Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson has suggested a 6 percent cut across the board as a first step to addressing the deficit. Outgoing Governor Jay Inslee proposed a wealth tax, among other revenue-generating plans to close the gap. 

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