Thread: State of Washington winks at illegal immigration

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/2 ... riz16.html

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

State winks at illegal immigration

By DAN STEIN
GUEST COLUMNIST

Gov. Chris Gregoire recently made some headlines by sending the federal government a $50 million bill for the cost of incarcerating criminal illegal immigrants. We wish her and the taxpayers of Washington luck. For all the chance the state of Washington has of getting a check from the federal government, Gregoire might just as well have saved the postage.

There is also a strong case to be made that Washington does not deserve to have the taxpayers of the other 49 states defray the costs of incarcerating illegals who commit crimes in that state. Washington, and especially the state's dominant metropolitan area, Seattle, have been willing accomplices to illegal immigration.

As recently as June 2002, the Seattle Police Department reaffirmed a policy directive that instructs officers not to inquire about the immigration status of people they encounter in the normal course of doing their jobs. There are, of course, circumstances when it is necessary for police to turn a blind eye, but Seattle has gone well beyond that point and has adopted a blanket sanctuary policy toward illegal immigranats.

The lax attitude toward illegal immigration does not end at the Seattle city limits. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, Washington is one of 15 states that do not require driver's license applicants to show proof of legal U.S. residence. That is but one example of how Washington winks at illegal immigration, making it an attractive place for illegals to take up residence. Gregoire and other state leaders should not be surprised that criminal illegals are taking advantage of the state's don't ask, don't tell policy.

Faced with mounting costs and a growing number of criminal illegal immigrants, other state and local governments have taken steps in recent years to make themselves less hospitable to illegal immigrants. Without turning themselves into immigration cops, many police departments have received federal training allowing their officers to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally. Others have gone further, by denying illegal immigrants access to non-essential government services and benefits, enforcing anti-gay labor ordinances, and even going after businesses that employ them.

Those state and local governments that have taken reasonable steps to discourage illegal immigrants from settling in their midst have a legitimate claim on federal dollars to reimburse them for the costs they incur as a result of the federal government's failure to exercise its own responsibilities to enforce immigration laws. Those jurisdictions that do not cooperate in immigration law enforcement -- and in the case of cities such as Seattle, actually create impediments to such enforcement -- have no business complaining about the costs of illegal immigration.

Rather than the occasional publicity stunt of sending a bill to the federal government that will never get paid in any event, the nation's governors have an opportunity to play a constructive role in solving what has become a national problem. The governors -- the people whose budgets are most directly affected by illegal immigration -- should sit down with federal officials and work out a series of conditions under which they would be automatically entitled to reimbursement for the costs of illegal immigration.

A reasonable set of conditions to trigger federal reimbursement should include: requiring proof of legal residence to obtain a driver's license and non-essential state services and benefits; barring acceptance of foreign consular-issued documents as legitimate ID; and routine cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities. To be sure, there are further steps that state and local governments could reasonably take to protect their treasuries and the safety of local citizens, but these should be the bare minimum requirements before dashing off a bill to the feds and putting out a news release.

Maybe the disappointment of sitting by her mailbox waiting for the federal check that will never arrive might persuade the governor to lead her fellow governors toward a constructive set of policies that will make them part of the solution rather than part of the problem.