Jay Inslee's new immigration plan tackles climate migration and citizenship for Dreamers

Gov. Jay Inslee

Gov. Jay Inslee reached beyond his presidential primary signature issue of climate change, releasing an immigration plan Friday—but he also showed how immigration and climate change are linked.

Inslee’s immigration plan would repeal Donald Trump’s Muslim ban (something his home state of Washington had aggressively taken to court) and cut off funding for Trump’s border wall. He would also institute protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, changing the immigration system “so it is humane, just, and efficient, centered on a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and expedited eligibility for DREAMers.”

Inslee would call for the U.S. to accept a greatly expanded number of refugees, and would restore the foreign aid to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador that Trump has slashed, working with those governments “to address the root causes of family migration, including climate migration from Guatemala and elsewhere.”