Report on State Immigration Laws

The National Conference of State Legislatures produces an annual report on immigration-related laws and resolutions passed at the state level. This 2018 report provides an overview of legislation passed in 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and identifies trends in immigration-related policy-making. The enacted laws of 2018 dealt with budget, education, law enforcement, health care and public benefits, among others. The report includes a chart showing the number of immigration-related laws enacted on a year-by-year basis from 2010 to 2018 broken down by category. According to the study, 31 percent of legislation in 2018 dealt with budgetary issues, e.g. providing appropriations for immigration enforcement, English classes and immigrant integration programs. An important topic in 2018 was the expansion of occupational licensing in fields experiencing labor shortages, e.g. nine states passed legislation that banned barriers to licensing for immigrants with work authorization. Several states introduced legislation that urged federal action on issues such as refugees and child migrants at the southern border. Issues related to human trafficking and voting made up the smallest percentage of enacted immigration-related laws. The report includes capsule summaries of noteworthy pieces of legislation in each of 11 different categories. (Mia Fasano for The Immigrant Learning Center's Public Education Institute)

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