State Immigration Measures Hurting Efforts at Comprehensive Reform?

The Washington Post has an interesting piece about the impacts of the great increase in the number of states passing immigration-related bills in the past few years. According to the Post, “No fewer than 1,404 pieces of immigration-related legislation were introduced in legislatures during the first half of 2007, with 182 bills becoming law in 43 states. That is more than double the number of immigration-related state laws enacted during all of 2006, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some observers are alarmed by the trend, calling the widely divergent laws further evidence of America’s cultural divide and saying they could pose new hurdles in reaching a national consensus on immigration. Piecemeal policymaking is opening the door to a flurry of legal battles — the Department of Homeland Security, for instance, is suing Illinois for banning businesses there from confirming an employee’s legal status through the federal E-Verify database, which state officials have called flawed and unreliable.” (emphasis added).

KJ