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Washington state bill opens housing assistance to illegal immigrants, critics warn
A bill recently passed by lawmakers in Washington state could open the door for illegal immigrants to receive cash assistance under a program designed to provide housing assistance and other essential items to certain low-income residents unable to work, critics say.
The state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature last month passed SB 5232, which has been delivered to Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson.
The bill updates provisions related to the state’s Housing and Essential Needs Referral Program (HEN), which provides assistance to low-income U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and victims of human trafficking if they can’t work due to their physical or mental condition.
HOMELAND SECURITY SUBPOENAS CALIFORNIA FOR POSSIBLE CASH BENEFITS TO ILLEGALS
The Washington State Capitol in Olympia, Washington. Washington state lawmakers recently passed a bill that could open up a housing assistance program to illegal immigrants, critics say. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Lawmakers amended the bill to remove the eligibility requirement that recipients be «citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise residing in the United States under color of law.»
«This year seems to be the year for noncitizens,» Republican state Sen. Leonard Christian, a ranking member of the Senate Human Services Committee, told Fox News Digital. «We have no problem giving direct money, housing money to noncitizens, along with $150 million in Medicaid for noncitizens.»
«It just seems like the state is trying really hard to pick a fight with the Trump administration,» he added.
The state has set aside roughly $130 million for the HEN program in an effort to address homelessness and housing.
In a social media post, state Rep. Travis Couture also criticized SB 5232, calling it the «same budget» with «more recipients.»
NEWSOM ASKS FOR NEARLY ANOTHER $3B FOR STATE HEALTH PROGRAM OVERWHELMED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
«That means our people get kicked out of line in favor of illegal immigrants,» he wrote last week. «Gov. Ferguson — veto this. It’s unfair and it’s wrong. Put our own people first!»
Ferguson hasn’t signaled whether he will sign the legislation. Fox News Digital has reached out to the sponsors of the bill and the governor’s office.
A homeless community of tents on the edge of the freeway in Seattle July 22, 2022. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Christian characterized the government handing out funds for housing as a «gift of taxpayer dollars,» noting the money doesn’t have many «guardrails around it.» He cited his own life experience, recalling his mother once leaving him and his 12-year-old brother at home to go cross-country trucking.
«He used the money that was given to my mom to buy groceries and food for us kids, to buy marijuana and alcohol at the age of 12,» he said. «I saw first hand (the impact of) substance abuse and handing money to somebody.»
NEWSOM SIGNS $2.8B BAILOUT FOR HEALTHCARE PROGRAM OVERRUN BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Statewide, Democrats have favored higher taxes on businesses and the rich, which ultimately trickle down to middle- and lower-class residents and programs that benefit illegal immigrants over American citizens, Christian said.
«A lot of times, the Democratic Party thinks more with their hearts than with their head,» he said. «It’s the idea that they see a problem, and they think they can fix it.»
Republicans want to address the same issues but look at how potential solutions will affect the overall population, he said.
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«They don’t get the fact that somebody else has got to pay for that crazy program,» he said. «I would certainly like to go around with a card and have fun and save the world, but who’s going to pay that Visa bill, and that’s when they don’t seem to care.»
SB 5232 was passed as the state faces a $16 billion budget shortfall. In addition, Ferguson recently signed a handful of bills to protect immigrants’ rights, including measures to allow the state to inspect private detention centers and prohibit bail bond agents from enforcing immigration laws.
Washington,Illegal Immigrants,US,Housing
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Sri Lanka began offloading 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel a day after 87 people were killed and several others were still missing following a U.S. submarine strike on an Iranian warship in the same region.
«After detailed discussions with all parties, Sri Lanka has decided to assist the Iranian vessel,» Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told reporters at a press briefing in Colombo, Reuters reported.
Among the crew members being offloaded the ship, which is near the port of Colombo, were 53 officials, 84 cadets, 48 senior sailors and 23 sailors, Dissanayake said.
Iranian warship IRIS Dena is seen in the Bay of Bengal. (AP Photo)
The Iranian ship, the IRIS Dena, was sunk Wednesday off Sri Lanka’s coast in the Indian Ocean. Officials there have dispatched two freezers to store 87 bodies recovered at sea.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the ship was «effectively neutralized» in a Navy «fast attack» using a single Mark 48 torpedo. He added that the U.S. Navy achieved «immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.»
TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH
An injured Iranian sailor is moved on a stretcher at Galle National Hospital, where the sailors are receiving treatment, following a submarine attack on the Iranian military ship, IRIS Dena, off the coast of Sri Lanka, in Galle, Sri Lanka, March 5, 2026. (Reuters/Thilina Kaluthotage)
Iran contends the ship was sunk in international waters without warning.
«The U.S. will bitterly regret the precedent it has set,» Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X.
Iran has asked Sri Lanka to assist with the repatriation of the bodies.
Sri Lankan officials said the Dena was on its way home after taking part in a naval exercise organized by India in the Bay of Bengal from Feb. 18 to 25.
Healthcare workers unload the bodies of Iranian sailors from a vehicle who died when their IRIS Dena warship sank outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, in Galle, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
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Search and rescue operations would continue for an estimated 10 people who remain unaccounted for, they said.
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House Democrats largely voted to allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown to keep going on Thursday, shrugging off Republicans’ concerns about the increased domestic terror threat amid the U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran.
It comes hours after President Donald Trump shocked Capitol Hill by ousting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and appointing Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as his replacement.
But that did not stop the vast majority of Democrats from voting against a bipartisan DHS funding bill aimed at funding the cabinet agency through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Nearly identical legislation already passed the House in January, but House GOP leaders wanted to force the vote again in light of heightened national security concerns within the country’s borders.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Nov. 3, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
While largely symbolic, it shows Republicans’ pressure strategy is falling on deaf ears as the left continues to protest President Donald Trump’s strategy to combat illegal immigration.
The bill was the product of original bipartisan negotiations that followed the longest-ever full government shutdown in U.S. history, which ended in November after 43 days.
It would fully fund all aspects of DHS while also including new guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanded by Democrats, like a body-worn camera mandate and new required training on public engagement and de-escalation.
But Democrats walked away from the deal en masse amid fallout from Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which saw two U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal agents during anti-ICE demonstrations there. The operation has since ended.
Democratic leaders are still insisting on withholding their caucus’ support, however, until further restrictions are put on ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on the ground in various cities.
A person holds an image of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Iranian demonstrators protest against the U.S.-Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., signaled to reporters that Noem’s ouster was not enough.
«It’s not like Kristi Noem was the one who was involved in negotiating anything. She was a corrupt lackey. So we were dealing with the White House before, and we’re going to continue to deal with the White House at this point,» he said.
Meanwhile, the resulting DHS shutdown has taken on new significance as the U.S. continues its campaign to take out Iran’s top leadership and its military sites.
Republican leaders are warning that keeping DHS in a shutdown state is dangerous for national security, given its jurisdiction over agencies that monitor threats from home and abroad.
SWALWELL PRESSED ON DEMOCRATS’ RESISTANCE TO FULLY FUNDING DHS AMID IRAN THREAT
«Now is the time to be vigilant at home and to ensure that all of our doors are locked, so to speak,» Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press conference Wednesday. «And yet, as all this is happening, we have Democrats running around here playing political games in Congress. It’s infuriating. They’ve shut down the very agency that is responsible for securing the homeland.»
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., pauses for questions from reporters as he arrives for an Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 3, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Republicans’ argument «insane» when asked by Fox News Digital earlier this week.
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«Donald Trump launches an unauthorized war in the Middle East. … He decides that he wants to spend billions of dollars to bomb Iran, rather than spend taxpayer dollars to lower the grocery bills that are crushing the American people, and then wants to use his unauthorized war as an excuse to continue spending taxpayer dollars to brutalize or kill American citizens by continuing to unleash ICE without restriction on the American people?» Jeffries posed. «I think it’s ridiculous.»
It’s the Senate, however, where passing that DHS funding bill is actually key to ending the shutdown. The upper chamber voted again Thursday on the original legislation that passed the House in January, but it failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster.
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INTERNACIONAL
Trump anticipó la caída de la dictadura de Cuba tras la ofensiva de Estados Unidos en Irán: “Es la guinda del pastel”
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, aseguró este jueves que el régimen cubano “está cerca de su final” y vinculó la crisis actual de la isla a la estrategia de presión económica implementada por su administración.
“Cuba caerá… Después de 50 años, eso es la guinda del pastel”, afirmó el mandatario en una entrevista telefónica con Politico.
Trump sostuvo que la grave escasez de combustible y productos básicos que vive actualmente la población responde al corte de suministros y petróleo venezolano, una medida que Washington considera clave en el debilitamiento progresivo de la dictadura cubana.
Según el presidente estadounidense, la política de endurecimiento de las sanciones ha logrado aislar a Cuba de su principal fuente de apoyo externo: Venezuela.
“Cortamos todo el petróleo, todo el dinero, todo lo que venía de Venezuela, que era la única fuente”, detalló Trump.
De acuerdo con el mandatario, la falta de recursos externos ha puesto al régimen en una situación límite, acelerando un proceso de cambio político que, según sus palabras, “ya no tiene retorno”.
“De lo contrario, no tendrían este problema”, subrayó en referencia al desabastecimiento generalizado.
En este contexto, Trump confirmó que existen negociaciones en curso entre Estados Unidos y La Habana, aunque aclaró que la iniciativa responde a la necesidad manifiesta del régimen cubano de recibir asistencia ante la profunda crisis económica.
“Necesitan ayuda. Estamos hablando con Cuba”, dijo el mandatario en su entrevista con Politico.
La crisis humanitaria en Cuba se ha agravado en los últimos meses. Tras la detención del narcodictador Nicolás Maduro a principios de enero, en una operación sorpresa liderada por fuerzas estadounidenses, Trump ordenó nuevas restricciones, incluyendo una orden ejecutiva que impone aranceles y sanciona a cualquier país que intente suministrar petróleo a la isla.
Estas medidas han profundizado el aislamiento internacional del régimen cubano y han restringido aún más el acceso a combustible, alimentos y productos básicos para la población.
“Es por mi intervención, la intervención que está ocurriendo”, dijo Trump.
Durante la entrevista, Trump utilizó el caso venezolano como ejemplo del posible desenlace en Cuba. Destacó que, tras la captura de Maduro, la relación bilateral con Caracas experimentó un giro sustancial, con la cooperación de la jefa del régimen chavista, Delcy Rodríguez, a quien definió como una interlocutora “satisfactoria” para los intereses estadounidenses.
“Venezuela lo está haciendo fantásticamente. Está haciendo un trabajo fantástico. La relación con ellos es excelente”, aseguró Trump.
El presidente también abordó la dimensión geopolítica de su estrategia. Según Trump, la presión sobre La Habana busca no solo el aislamiento económico, sino también un cambio de orientación política y económica en la isla, similar al proceso iniciado en Venezuela. Washington considera que la caída del régimen cubano alteraría de manera significativa el equilibrio de poder en el Caribe y fortalecería la proyección de Estados Unidos en la región.
Mientras tanto, la situación interna en Cuba continúa deteriorándose. Los reportes sobre largas filas para acceder a combustible, apagones extensos y escasez de alimentos reflejan el impacto de las sanciones y el corte de suministros externos.
Trump reiteró durante la entrevista que la inminente caída del régimen cubano será una de las piezas centrales de su legado en política exterior. “¿Cuánto hace que escuchas hablar de Cuba? ¿Cuba, Cuba? Por 50 años”, expresó el presidente, enfatizando que su administración ha conseguido lo que no lograron los gobiernos anteriores: llevar al régimen cubano a una crisis terminal.
(Con información de Europa Press)
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