(Olympia, WA) With President-elect Donald Trump promising mass deportations when he takes office on Jan. 20, uncertainty is rising for immigrants across the U.S.
State lawmakers have limited power over federal immigration enforcement. But in Washington’s upcoming legislative session, legislators will be looking at a bill to strengthen the safety net for immigrants working in the state without legal authorization.
Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, is re-introducing a bill this session to help these workers access unemployment insurance.
Lawmakers, immigrant rights advocates, and business groups in Washington acknowledge the important role immigrants play in helping employers meet state and national labor needs. However, the unemployment insurance proposal is stirring concerns over costs and other issues related to privacy and employer liability.
“We know that inaction and hostility to the immigrant workforce is really harmful to a place like Washington state,” Saldaña said. “It’s all the more reason why I believe, right now, is the time that we need a state program.”
More than 156,000 people who are not legally authorized to work in the U.S. due to their immigration status are employed in Washington. Thousands work in industries such as agriculture, hospitality, construction and retail, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Unemployment insurance is jointly financed through federal and state payroll taxes, which are taxes withheld from an employee’s paycheck that companies are responsible for paying to the government.
In Washington, immigrants who are not legally authorized to work in the U.S. have contributed nearly $400 million to unemployment funds over the past decade, according to the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.
This bill calls for setting aside state funds to run a program for workers who don’t qualify for standard unemployment insurance because of their immigration status. These workers would have access to those funds when they lose employment through no fault of their own.
When workers apply for unemployment insurance, they go to the Employment Security Department’s website and fill out their information to see if they qualify. If the program was implemented, workers without legal work authorization would be directed to a different website.
The program would be run through a third-party administrative system. According to Saldaña, this would lower expenses, protect workers’ identities and prevent employers from being held liable for knowingly hiring immigrants without legal immigration status. These are concerns both advocates and critics raised in the previous session.
In 2022, Colorado was the first state in the country to pass a bill to set up a fund for residents to access unemployment insurance regardless of immigration status. The state set aside $15 million a year for their program.
Cost estimates for legislation introduced in 2023 showed the Washington program would cost about $100 million in the first two-year budget cycle when the program becomes available and $140 million in the cycle after that. It would benefit a little over 5,300 workers each year.
Business groups have concerns about implementing the program and would instead like to see changes at the state and federal levels to allow employers to recruit a legal immigrant workforce when there is a shortage of workers.
“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,” said Janelle Guthrie, a spokesperson for the Building Industry Association of Washington.
But advocates say the proposed unemployment benefit program is vital for creating a safety net for immigrants when they lose their jobs and can’t pay for necessities like food and housing.
“We are working with the Legislature to continue to have Washington be that guiding light in the nation to demonstrate that in hard times, we don’t back away from a fight,” said Sasha Wasserstrom, policy director at the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.
This story first appeared on Washington State Standard.