November 29, 2007

Federal Gridlock on Immigration Reform Leads States to Action: 

States enacted triple the numbers of laws in 2007 over 2006

DENVER - In the absence of federal immigration reform, state legislatures have passed an unprecedented amount of legislation related to immigrants in a range of policy arenas.

As of November 16, 2007, roughly 1562 pieces of legislation related to immigrants and immigration had been introduced among the 50 state legislatures. Of these bills, 244 became law in 46 states. 11 bills have been vetoed by governors. Two measures are still pending governors’ review.

State legislators have introduced roughly two and a half times more bills in 2007 than in 2006.  The number of enactments from 2006 (84) has more than tripled to 246 in 2007.  Several states are still in session so there could be additional legislation related to immigrants as the year draws to a close.

Immigration-related legislation covers almost every policy arena. Some of the main topics in state immigration-related legislation:

Main Topics	Number of Bills Introduced	States	Enacted Laws	States
Education	131	34	20	17
Employment**	244	45	31	20
Health	147	32	16	11
Human Trafficking	83	29	18	13
ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses	259	47	42	31
Law Enforcement	165	37	17	10
Legal Services	20	12	3	3
Miscellaneous	116	34	14	11
Omnibus/Comprehensive Measures	29	8	1	1
Public Benefits**	153	40	32	19
Voting	53	23	0	0
Resolutions	162	37	50	18
TOTAL	1562	50	244	46

**Since the April 18th 2007 report, 34 pieces of legislation concerned with workers compensation and unemployment insurance have been moved from the public benefit section to the employment section.

NCSL’s Immigration Relations Task Force’s report gives a quantitative overview of introduced legislation and briefly analyzes enacted laws relating to immigrants and refugees. This process of legislative tracking and reporting is based on a comprehensive and inclusive methodology and captures all state legislation in which immigrants – whether authorized or unauthorized, migrants, aliens and refugees – are affected.  In 2007, states addressed both enforcement and integration issues related to immigrants.

For a free copy of the entire report, click here.

NCSL is the bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staff of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.

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