Anti-illegal immigration initiative falls short

YAKIMA — An anti-illegal-immigration initiative failed to make the state election ballot again this year, falling thousands of petition signatures short of the requirement.

Initiative 1043, sponsored by Wendell Hannigan of White Swan, Yakima County, would have required employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check the immigration status of prospective employees.

It also would have required law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws and barred undocumented immigrants from getting driver's licenses or public benefits.

Craig Keller, chairman of Respect Washington and who led signature-gathering efforts, said Thursday that not all of the signatures had yet been counted. But it was clear I-1043 would fall short.

To qualify, 241,156 signatures were needed. According to Keller, it's likely Respect Washington gathered fewer than 100,000.

An identical measure, Initiative 409, fell short of making the ballot last year. Similar measures failed to make the ballot in 2006 and 2007.