Cities, States Resist — and Assist — Immigration Crackdown in New Ways

Pew observes that, as the Trump administration this year ratcheted up its efforts to curb illegal immigration, cities and states experimented with new ways to resist — or assist — the crackdown.

California declared itself a sanctuary state, prompting pushback from some of its counties. Connecticut, Illinois, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington also enacted statewide measures to limit law enforcement cooperation with immigration authorities, while New Mexico weighed stricter state oversight of immigrant detention facilities.

Meanwhile, Iowa, North Carolina and Tennessee enacted anti-sanctuary laws requiring cities to cooperate with immigration authorities, and lawmakers in 16 other states tried but failed to do the same, including Virginia, where the majority Republican Legislature passed a bill and the governor, Democrat Ralph Northam, vetoed it. In Oregon, a group favoring a crackdown on illegal immigration put a measure on the November ballot that would undo that state’s 1987 sanctuary law.

KJ