The Washougal Council has approved a resolution in support of enforcing federal immigration laws on the state level.
The resolution, approved 5 to 2 on July 6, encourages state representatives of the 15th and 18th legislative districts to sponsor legislation in the next session similar to the immigration law recently adopted in Arizona.
Paul Greenlee and Molly Coston voted against the resolution. Councilman/Mayor Pro Tem Jon Russell sponsored it.
Russell said other cities, including Long Beach, Wash., and Costa Mesa, Lake Elsinore and Hemet, Calif., have supported Arizona’s immigration law. That law authorizes state and local law enforcement officers — if they have a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that someone is an illegal alien — to determine the person’s immigration status.
Russell said illegal immigration adds financial burdens in the areas of public safety, healthcare and education.
