Report on State Immigration Laws | 2019

Immigration remains a high-profile topic nationally and in state legislatures. While congressional efforts face a stalemate in overhauling the national immigration system, last achieved in 1986, state legislators are taking action where they can. Over the last 10 years, state legislators have enacted an average of 153 laws per year. Perennial debates have included the appropriate role for states in civil or criminal immigration enforcement, weighing compliance with immigration detainers or collaboration on drug smuggling, gangs, and human trafficking. They also considered the public safety value of issuing state driver’s licenses and the educational worth of extending in-state tuition benefits. In recent years, as baby boomers retire and labor shortages develop in certain fields, legislators have looked at the untapped talent of foreign-trained professionals and enacted laws to make state licensing and credentialing more transparent and effective. States also adopted resolutions, seeking congressional or administrative action on immigration. One day, these state-level approaches may yield innovations that help advance national immigration reform