State Laws Related to Immigrants and Immigration in 2008

“State legislatures continue tackling immigration issues in a variety of policy arenas at an unprecedented rate. As of November 30, 2008, no fewer than 1305 pieces of legislation related to immigrants and immigration had been introduced. In 41 states, at least one law or resolution was enacted, with a total of 205 laws and resolutions enacted nationwide. Three bills were vetoed by governors. The 2008 level of activity is comparable to last year, when 1,562 bills were introduced and 240 laws were enacted. As in recent years, the top three areas of interest are identification / driver’s licenses, employment and law enforcement.  For a full report from the National Conference on State Legislatures, see Download report.pdf

KJ