Initiative would crack down on illegal immigrants


Posted By Katie Schmidt
January 21, 2011 at 3:44 pm

Anti-illegal immigration groups are making another push to tighten rules against undocumented residents of the state with Initiative 1122, filed this month by a group called Respect Washington.

The initiative, the fifth in a series of similar proposals in Washington, would require state workers to check immigration status before issuing public benefits or a drivers’ license, employers to check the immigration status of all workers and law enforcement to check the status of all people charged with felonies.

According to the Secretary of State’s archives, similar initiatives were filed in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, but none reached voters. The 2010 initiative, also filed by Respect Washington, received 30,000 out of 250,000 signatures needed to make it onto the November ballot.


Craig Keller, co-founder of Respect Washington and the leader of I-1122 said the issue was important because undocumented immigrants should not influence state spending and decision making.

“That’s a corrupt influence,â€