Northwest Montana candidates stand against state services being granted to illegal aliens at the expense of working families.

In 2012, the people of Montana spoke loud and clear on the issue of illegal immigration when 80 percent of Montana voters passed LR-121, a law to prohibit state taxpayer funded services from being utilized by illegal aliens.

Since the passage of LR-121, two Montana courts have ruled directly against the law and the will of the people. The most recent blow came from the Montana Supreme Court several weeks ago.

We believe these courts made a bad decision when they ruled against LR-121. It is the job of the courts to determine whether a law is being followed or not. It is not within the court’s authority to make laws. That power rests solely with the people, or the elected legislature.

Jeffrey Sherlock, a liberal District Court judge in Helena struck down most of LR-121 in 2014. On May 12, the Montana Supreme Court struck down the remaining provision that would have required state workers to report to federal immigration officials the names of job or benefit applicants who are in Montana illegally.

The adversarial court rulings seriously interfere with Montana’s ability to protect not only our state finances, but also our state sovereignty against a lawless federal government that is unwilling to enforce immigration law.

The plaintiff’s attorney in Tuesday’s decision, Shaid Haque-Hausrath, said the people of Montana have no business creating enforcement schemes, and that the law is “discriminatory” against “immigrants.”

We, the Republican legislative candidates, soundly reject this misrepresentation of LR-121 and declare that it is wrong to place the interests of people who enter our country and state illegally over the rights and interests of lawful taxpayers, citizens, voters and working families.

According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Montana spent nearly $33 million on illegal aliens in 2009, and since then the number of illegal aliens has risen. This is money that is being diverted from communities and law-abiding Montanans in need.

We need to fix roads and bridges, ensure public safety, care for seniors and veterans, fight crime, and provide essential services at the state and local level. However since the court says we cannot even verify the citizenship of applicants for public services, we are open to a flood of financial demands that will continue to take funds away from our citizens and provide incentives for illegal immigration.

These courts have acted in a manner adversarial to the law enacted by the people of Montana. We condemn this recent ruling and affirm our support of the law that prohibits illegal aliens from receiving taxpayer funds. We believe it is our duty to put Montana first and stand against judicial activism and federal overreach.

Rose is the Republican candidate in House District 3. He was joined in signing this letter by GOP candidates Matt Regier in HD4, Chet Billi in HD5, Carl Glimm in HD6, Steve Lavin in HD8, Randy Brodehl in HD9, Mark Noland in HD10, Derek Skees in HD11, Bob Brown in HD-13, Dee Brown in Senate District 2, Keith Regier in SD3, Al Olszewski in SD6 and Jennifer Fielder in SD7.