Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson encouraged undocumented immigrants to apply for state-funded financial aid, promising not to share applicants’ information with the federal government in a recent X post.
This latest example of Ferguson’s dedication to making Washington a sanctuary state comes at little cost to him, but legal Washingtonians pay a steep price.
“If you’re concerned about sharing information with the federal government through the FAFSA, use the Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA) instead to access state-only opportunities. You could qualify for free tuition or job training,” read the post.
Ferguson assured readers that WASFA “does not ask about your citizenship status.”
WASFA receives no federal funds. Instead, state taxes “cover or subsidize the cost of post-secondary education — including apprenticeships, community and technical colleges, and universities — for lower and middle-income students and families.”
Specifically, WASFA is funded by a 2019 tax hike on businesses through the Workforce Education Investment Act, which raised the Business & Occupation tax for one in five Washingtonian businesses by up to 60%.
When this is not enough to fund all eligible WASFA applicants, funds are pulled from the state’s general fund, which receives sales tax, property taxes and additional B&O taxes.
For undocumented immigrants who are, per Ferguson, “concerned about sharing information with the federal government,” there is no way to own a business that would pay B&O tax. Creating a business entity from which to pay those taxes requires an identification number from the federal Internal Revenue Service.
For the same reason, it would be impossible for those concerned immigrants to pay federal income taxes after WASFA-funded undocumented immigrants enter the workforce.
Undocumented immigrants also pay less into the state’s general fund than citizens. A 2022 study from the Washington State Budget & Policy Center showed that each undocumented immigrant in Washington paid an average of $3,068 per year, mostly through sales tax — less than half of the average paid by Washington's legal residents in 2022.
So, WASFA receives remarkably little money from undocumented immigrants. Moreover, to continue eluding federal immigration enforcement, undocumented immigrant WASFA recipients must commit tax evasion after their tax-funded education.
Yet, Gov. Ferguson encourages them to apply.
This is clearly motivated by Washington's commitment to being a sanctuary state, defined by the Department of Justice as jurisdictions that “violate, obstruct and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.”
One way in which sanctuary states do this is by refusing to share information with federal immigration enforcement.
Ferguson's encouragement to undocumented immigrants applying to WASFA was not done out of care for tax-paying constituents, but out of spite for the federal government. Governor Ferguson has yet again forced Washingtonians to foot the bill for his virtue signaling.
Malia Marks
Grays Harbor Count
