Washington State’s new House Bill 2105 (HB2105), entitled the Immigrant Worker Protection Act, was signed into law by Governor Ferguson on March 30, 2026. The new law requires employers to post notice, in posters created by the Attorney General (AG), of upcoming federal I-9 searches within five days of the search date.
According to its first section, “the legislature finds that civil immigration enforcement through workplace raids conducted by the federal government is disruptive to families and communities.”
While the bill does not prevent federal raids, it establishes channels of communication between the employer and the employee to ensure proper preparation and education before a planned search is conducted.
Per AG requirements, employers will provide resources for organizations that inform employees about immigrant and refugee rights. The bill also requires employers to be able to meet with their employees to discuss any deficiencies identified in their documentation.
If an employer fails to meet these requirements, each violation will result in them paying “statutory damages to the Attorney General in the amount of $500 for each instance.” However, the court may waive or reduce the damages if a violation was inadvertent, did not result in harm or if the employer made prompt efforts to correct the violation (Sec. 9 a-b.).
Senior Anna Gutrich, who worked for the Center for Nonprofit Legal Services and Andreeva & Gutierrez LLC from 2023 to 2025, commented on the harmful effects of federal raids.
“I can’t think of one scheduled search where someone walks away not having something taken from them, even if it’s just [their] dignity, or needing to leave the workplace, or losing your shift for that day because you’re sitting waiting for a search or you’ve been pulled aside [and singled out] in your workplace,” Gutrich said.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown requested the bill, with support from Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self (D-Mukilteo). Ortiz-Self says the bill will ensure clarity and fairness while protecting employees from retaliation through education on workplace rights and transparency surrounding searches.
For Gutrich, the bill offers workers fair notice of visits from federal agents. Based on her experience working at an Oregon law firm, the bill’s potential impacts in communities with a higher number of immigrant workers could alleviate fears for workers in Washington state.
“When I had clients in Oregon, one of the biggest issues was them not knowing when raids were going to happen. They knew they were going to happen but they didn’t know when or what kind [of documents were going to be requested], or if it was their section of their job [that was going to be inspected],” Gutrich said.
The bill moved through four total iterations. Amendments pertained to penalty fines, employer voluntary consent to non-warrant federal agent search, posting requirements, notice delivery method and time frame, a funding contingency and adjusted deadlines.
The final revised bill, 2SHB2105, amended primarily by the House and one amendment of the Senate, exists as a heavily stripped-down version of HB2105.
Senior politics major Ellie Edwards explained her view of the balancing act that bills like HB2105 undergo in the state legislature.
“So there’s this constant balancing of fighting so hard for this one [palatable policy] when I could maybe fight in the future for more [radical change] if I kept going,” Edwards said. “And it can confuse the logic to the point where that legislator ends up not getting a lot done because they’re so convinced they’re the best person for this long term.”
The original bill included a section that barred employers from voluntarily granting federal agents access to private workplaces or employee records without a warrant or subpoena. After rounds of edits, this section was omitted entirely, while other amendments underwent changes to requested fines or notice time periods.
An additional requirement for employers to send written notice to the “last known addresses of all workers employed by the employer in the last three years” was also removed from the bill. This provision could have made compliance difficult for small businesses that do not have adequate records to do so.
In their final change, the Senate’s “Ways & Means” striker amendment changed the notice window from 72 hours to five business days. It also reduced penalties for employers who fail to provide required notices from $2,000 to $1,000 for incidental noncompliance.
Maria Garcia, co-founder of the Walla Walla Activism Network, expressed her views on employers’ responsibilities.
“I was pleased to see the law includes fines for employers who violate the notification requirements. While employees need to ensure they have the proper documentation in order to work, employers need to be extra careful that they are hiring people who have the legal right to work in the US,” Garcia said. “I see this law as an added safeguard against human trafficking.”
Some view these changes as a natural part of the legislative process. Others express disappointment in the variety of amendments, believing these could limit the bill’s original goals. Gutrich added her view that the changes adopted in the final bill could dampen its effectiveness.
“I imagine it will, when practically applied, help people, but it is disappointing to see the consistent pattern of bills starting off as really sort of radical, [that will] genuinely make some change and then it’s repeatedly cut,” Gutrich said.
While the bill is perhaps not the radical reform in immigration policy that some wanted it to be, HB2105 fills a wide gap in policy with the aims of decreased violence and workplace anxiety for immigrant employees.
