Washington asks Supreme Court to OK Obama immigration plan

Washington State asks U.S. Supreme Court to let Obama's immigration plan go forward. Oregon and California agrees.

Washington state Friday led a 15-state coalition in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold President Barack Obama’s plan to legalize some 4.4 million illegal immigrants, arguing that immigration reform will benefit states by increasing tax revenue, enhancing public safety and reducing the demand for social services.

“Each day that these reforms are delayed harms people who want nothing more than to come out of the shadows and live and work legally to support their families,” Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a written statement. “This affects our friends, families, neighbors and our state as a whole.”

The Supreme Court is expected to decide in mid-January whether to hear an appeal filed by the U.S. Justice Department after the 5th Circuit of Appeals in November blocked two immigration programs ordered by Obama.

One would allow illegal immigrants with children who have legal status to apply for lawful standing. The other would offer legal standing to children 16 and younger who entered the country illegally.

Oregon and California are among the states that signed the brief written by the Washington Attorney General’s Office.

All three states have Democratic attorney generals and governors. Some 25 states, including the Republican-led Idaho, opposed the programs in a brief filed with the appeals court.

In Washington, approximately 105,000 illegal immigrants would be eligible for legal status, according to Ferguson’s brief.

The brief cites an analysis by the Center for American Progress that assumes undocumented workers who gain legal residency will earn more money. The additional income would increase Washington state tax collections by $57 million over five years, according to the analysis.

The brief also argues that residents are more likely to cooperate with police if they aren’t afraid contact with law enforcement will lead to deportation. Children in families split by deportation can end up in foster care, according to the brief.

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas in February blocked the immigration reforms from taking effect pending a trial on the plan’s legality.

Judge Andrew Hanen said the federal government likely violated the Administrative Procedures Act by not giving states a chance to comment before Obama issued the orders. States would be harmed by incurring the expense of issuing state-subsidized driver’s licenses to newly legalized residents, he ruled.

Oregon voters in 2014 overturned a state law that would have allowed illegal aliens to obtain a driver’s license.

Washington, California and 10 other states allow undocumented residents to have a license, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The New Orleans-based Circuit Court upheld Hanen’s decision in a 2-1 ruling. If the programs were allowed to go forward, states would have a hard time returning to previous policies if the plan was ruled illegal at a trial, Judge Jerry Smith wrote.

Washington state submitted a brief to the Circuit Court, foreshadowing the arguments it has made to the Supreme Court.

The Circuit Court said lost tax revenue and public safety concerns were consequences of immigration laws and that it was up to Congress to debate those issues.

The other states joining Washington, Oregon and California are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. The District of Columbia also signed the brief.