Bill to benefit Nebraska immigrant 'Dreamers' squashed after Trump order [View all]

Source: Nebraska Examiner

Gov. Jim Pillen is ‘pleased,’ while immigrant advocates express outrage

By: Cindy Gonzalez - March 15, 2025 5:00 am

LINCOLN — A proposed Nebraska law that had bipartisan support and would have benefited immigrant “Dreamers” has been crushed under the weight of a Trump administration threat that the state could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid if it is enacted.

Legislative Bill 299, in part, sought to align Nebraska with what advocates said already had been the practice of most, if not all, other states: allowing immigrants who have legal permission to work in the U.S. but lack permanent residency access to the unemployment insurance benefits their employers pay into.

Before the bill’s sponsors backed off Thursday, LB 299 had cleared a few key hurdles, including a March 6 vote by the Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee that poised the measure for debate by the state’s full lawmaking body.

But a Feb. 19 executive order from President Donald Trump titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders” has since come into play.


A Nebraska bill that would have benefited immigrant DACA recipients won’t move forward, sponsors said. Shown here, supporters of the DACA program rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court. (Robin Bravender/ States Newsroom)

Read more: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/15/bill-to-benefit-nebraska-immigrant-dreamers-squashed-after-trump-order/