KENNEWICK — Did U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse vote to give “total amnesty and citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants?”
That’s what a new TV ad out in recent days from Tiffany Smiley is claiming.
The Pasco veterans advocate is looking to unseat the five-term incumbent and is making a jab at Newhouse’s past support for two perennial pieces of immigration legislation aimed at workers and children of immigrants.
Smiley’s ad tries to paint Newhouse as supporting amnesty for people entering the country illegally.
The recent ad — titled “Dan and Joe” — attempts broadly to tie Newhouse to the Biden Administration, even calling Newhouse a “creature of the swamp.”
“‘Amnesty Dan’ and ‘Sleepy Joe’ worked together to encourage the invasion of gangs, drugs and crime into our communities. So now, it’s time for Dan and Joe to go,” the narrator says.
Newhouse pushed back at a debate last week on claims he supports amnesty for migrants who come into the U.S. illegally. He faced off with Smiley and another challenger, Jerrod Sessler, both Republicans.
“Let me just clarify something: I’ve never voted for amnesty, I would not vote for amnesty. Just so you know that, that’s not true,” the Sunnyside farmer said at the debate hosted by Yakima Republican Women’s Club.
He went on to defend H.R. 1603, the 2021 Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which he authored.
“It does not provide amnesty. It gives people who have been working here for a long period of time an opportunity to get right with the law — not citizenship, but to be here legally,” Newhouse said.
“We need these people, and we need to provide them a legal way to come into our country to work and then a legal way to go back home, knowing that they’ll be able to return without having to pay a coyote $5,000 or $8,000 and put their lives in danger to come home,” he contended.
Immigration legislation
Newhouse voted for House resolutions 6 and 1603, which passed the U.S. House but failed to get support in the Senate in recent years. They were particular flash points in 2021, when the U.S. Border Patrol reported record encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.
They also came during the era of Title 42, the public health order established during the COVID pandemic which allowed Border Patrol to turn away migrants and deny them the right to seek asylum.
In the time since then, encounters at the border have ebbed and flowed. In December, Border Patrol reported its highest ever monthly count of migrant encounters — nearly 250,000.
Then, in May, when the Biden Administration ended Title 42, the number of people illegally crossing the Mexico border fell more than 50% compared to December. And people were encouraged instead to apply for asylum online using a new process.
Farm Workforce Modernization Act
Washington is home to one of the most productive agriculture region’s in the world, and its crop sector is a Goliath with nearly $9 billion worth produced annually.
The state is the nation’s third-largest food and agriculture exporter, and more than 164,000 jobs in production, processing, transportation and sales are supported through that work.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act would do a few things if passed into law. Those include:
- Create a Certified Agricultural Worker status and associated requirements, and pilot changes to the H-2A temporary worker program.
- Establish a pathway for immigrant workers in the U.S. illegally to obtain legal status. That also includes requiring background checks for workers who have worked in the U.S. a minimum of eight years.
- Bring worker screenings normally conducted by farmers into the 21st century with electric verification and establishing new funding opportunities to create farmworker housing.
The bill has twice passed the U.S. House of Representatives during the 116th and 117th Congresses, but has stalled both times in the U.S. Senate. Despite passing twice with Democratic support, Newhouse has struggled to get the full support of his own caucus for the bill.
Newhouse and a bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced the bill last year, but it’s since been stuck in review in a number of House committees with no sign of getting a vote anytime soon.
American Dream and Promise Act
Newhouse was one of nine House Republicans who broke ranks to pass the 2021 American Dream and Promise Act, or House Resolution 6, which would have opened a gateway to citizenship for 2.5 million undocumented immigrants, including children and young adults — the “dreamers” — who qualify under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
He said at the time that his vote was meant as “a signal” sent to Democrats that he was willing to “provide a permanent solution for DACA recipients in Central Washington and across the country,” and negotiate stronger security measures at the southern border.
“Dreamers” are undocumented residents who came to the U.S. with their families when they were children, and who have no criminal history. The DACA program, implemented by the Obama Administration in 2012, provides those residents protection from deportation and the ability to obtain work permits.
Individuals with Temporary Protected Status as of 2017, or Deferred Enforced Departure as of January 2021, would be admitted a path to permanent residential status under the bill, too, according to a Roll Call story.
Two versions of the bill passed the House in 2019 and 2021, but have yet to pass the U.S. Senate. It was reintroduced in 2023 and remains in a number of House committees.
Advocates say the bill would expand protections to millions of U.S. residents who participate in the economy and pay taxes, but remain burdened by the uncertain future of those programs.
About 11 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S., with more than 1 million of them falling under DACA. There are more than 17,000 DACA recipients in Washington, with one-third of those living in Central Washington.
Race for WA 4th District
Seven candidates are vying to oust Newhouse during the Aug. 6 primary election. Ballots for this race have already been mailed out to registered voters.
Sessler and Smiley are challenging the incumbent over his 2021 vote to impeach former President Donald Trump over his role in fomenting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
They argue Newhouse would be unable to work with Trump if he were elected later this year to a second term, but the Sunnyside Republican argued differently at the recent debate.
“Just about a month ago, President Trump came to visit with the Republicans in Washington, D.C. — our entire conference was there.
And you know what he spoke about? He spoke about the future, about unity, about working together,” Newhouse said. “I took that literally.”
Newhouse and Rep. David Valadao of California, are the last remaining pro-impeachment Republicans serving in the U.S. House. Eight other lawmakers have since either retired or lost their reelection bids.
Sessler is mounting his second campaign against Newhouse after falling short in the 2022 primary — and this time, he’s got the backing of the former president.
Smiley previously challenged U.S. Sen. Patty Murray for her seat in the 2022 general election.
Newhouse also faces challengers from the left, too.
Yakima Valley entrepreneur Mary Baechler and Tri-Cities Democratic Party leader Birdie Jane Muchlinski will also appear on the primary ballot as Democrats. They said they’re running to right Congress’ wrongs on abortion access, housing, public safety and climate change.
Washington’s 4th Congressional District stretches from the U.S.-Canada border down to the Columbia River, and includes the Tri-Cities, Omak, East Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima and the Yakama Indian Reservation.
