Hundreds rally in support of immigrants at Washington state CapitolFree

Despite threats that immigration enforcement agents might show up, more than 500 immigrant rights advocates from across Washington marched to the state Capitol in Olympia on Thursday.

They were there to show support for two bills pending before the Legislature this year that would expand safety net benefits — including health care coverage and unemployment insurance — for immigrants who are in the country without legal authorization.

The demonstration also came as President Donald Trump, now about 10 days into his new term, has announced a range of policies to strike against immigrants.

The march and rally were led by the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, an immigrant rights coalition founded in 2016 when Trump was elected to his first term.

“We are more organized, we are stronger, and we have been building for another moment like 2016,” Brenda Rodriguez Lopez, executive director of the group, said in an interview. 

Since its founding, the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network has established a deportation defense hotline, expanded its coalition, and pushed for state-level policies to help immigrants.

“Now that we’re here, we’re able to respond more quickly, and we have a lot more processes in place that allow for our work to reach more community members,” Rodriguez Lopez said.

The group’s hotline takes in reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stops, detentions, and raids, provides people with know-your-rights information and connects them with resources for legal support. Since Trump took office, they’ve received over 400 calls daily, said Rodriguez Lopez.

Legislative priorities

U.S. law prevents federal funds from going to non-citizens but states can create their own programs to support this population.

Washington last year began an expansion of its Medicaid program, known as Apple Health, to cover people who do not meet the federal immigration requirements for Medicaid assistance. But due to limited funding, the number of people who could enroll was capped.

This year, House Bill 1482, sponsored by Rep. My-Linh Thai, D-Bellevue, intends to increase health coverage for immigrants by bolstering the previous expansion.

In Washington, there are an estimated 246,000 immigrants without legal status, half of whom are uninsured and live below 200% of the federal poverty level, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

Thai’s bill has received criticism from Rep. Travis Couture, R-Allyn. He created a poll on the social media platform X to ask his followers whether Washington should fund a health care program for “illegal immigrants” or save that money for better access to health care for Washington citizens.

Democrats frame the tradeoffs differently.

“To those elected officials who say that state dollars cannot go to our immigrant and refugee community, I tell them, look around, they’re your neighbors,” said Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, D-Mukilteo. “They pay taxes, they pay money, they contribute, and they deserve every single basic right that we have. We are not talking about status, we are talking about humanity.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, D-Seattle, is sponsoring Senate Bill 5626, which would expand unemployment insurance for immigrants without legal work authorization. At the rally, Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, announced he was dropping a House companion bill.

“We truly are building a world that doesn’t exist for our people yet, but we are making progress, and so, no matter who’s president, our communities will continue to organize,” Rodriguez Lopez said.

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