New Washington State Law Will Encourage Illegal Immigration

Under a new “sanctuary” law signed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee, the police in Washington state will no longer be allowed to ask about someone’s immigration status. This law’s passage expands similar policies in effect at other state agencies.

This law was signed on Wednesday, thus putting Washington alongside Oregon and California as the states with some of the nation’s strongest sanctuary policies. Inslee declared that “Our state agencies are not immigration enforcement agencies.”

The Washington Governor added, “We will not be complicit in the Trump administration’s depraved efforts to break up hard-working immigrant and refugee families.”

According to a Fox News report, police officers cannot inquire about someone’s immigration status except in limited circumstances. Republican State Senator Phil Fortunato criticized this law claiming that it is a public safety risk. The Senator said “This not only puts law enforcement at risk, it puts private citizens at risk.”

This new law expands on Inslee’s 2017 executive order that enacted similar provisions for state agencies, which mass migration supporters contended didn’t go far enough. Lena Graber, an attorney with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said that the bill would give Washington “the strongest and most comprehensive state law on sanctuary in the country.”

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