The irony of Washington state setting up a relief fund for undocumented workers while also trying to make it too expensive for farmers to legally hire workers through the H-2A program shouldn’t be lost on anyone.

A tribunal was formed at the end of the last legislative session to determine what the state-only fee should be for administering the federal H-2A program in Washington state. 

Now, a new $40 million fund is being created for workers who are here illegally and would negate the efforts of every farmer who has worked hard to verify the legality of every employee they have.

The Immigrant Relief Fund provides $1,000 grants, with a maximum award of $3,000 per household, to immigrant workers who are ineligible to receive COVID-19 related assistance from other sources. At the same time the state of Washington is making it more difficult to hire legal immigrants with H-2A Visas, it is rewarding workers who are here illegally.

The program will be administered through the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services in conjunction with a “community-based organization” (CBO) selected by DSHS and grant 95 percent, or $38 million, of the allocated funds.

The additional $2 million in funds will be allocated to the CBO.

The argument for the fund sounds borderline utopian: grant funds helping those who are often overlooked and underserved; particularly because many undocumented workers are found in jobs that are often insecure – day labor, hotel cleaning staff, and restaurant dishwashers to name a few. 

However, the utopian dream comes to a full stop when looking at the long-term consequences of what is tantamount to endorsing breaking the law. While certain segments of the state may see fit to ignore the rule of law in uncertain times, what we should all be working toward is a better approach to naturalization of undocumented residents and ensuring employers have a plentiful, legal workforce to rely upon whether they are dealing with a global pandemic or not.

No one can or should deny the contributions undocumented workers make to this country. Often, undocumented workers provide labor in jobs other people do not want to do like pulling weeds in a farmer’s field or picking up after a stranger’s mess in a hotel. The jobs undocumented workers do are not glamourous; nevertheless, they are jobs that need to be done.

In late 2019, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act took a stab at correcting the issues of undocumented workers in agriculture by offering a means by which agricultural workers could become legal U.S. citizens by paying a fine and having logged a certain number of years working in agriculture. Their employers, likewise, would face a fine but no other significant penalties for breaking the law by employing undocumented workers. The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives before stalling in the Senate.

If the goal of the newly announced fund for immigrant labor is to help a maximum of 15 percent of the approximately 250,000 undocumented workers in Washington state as a symbolic gesture, then it just might work. If the goal is to leave the door open for expansion of the program later on, it is encouraging lawlessness.

Instead, let us as Washingtonians, strive to encourage a better approach for all workers that allows their contributions to be recognized as valued, valid, and legal.