Report on State Immigration Laws: 2020

In 2020, the COVID-19 and economic crises gave rise to state legislative initiatives in the areas of pandemic relief, tenant protections, employment, law enforcement, and resolutions urging congressional action. The Report on State Immigration Laws, 2020, published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, summarizes immigration-related laws and resolutions, and calls attention to emerging legislative trends in the immigration area. While enacted legislation and adopted resolutions related to immigration decreased by 30 percent and 41 percent, respectively, various states reacted to the exclusion of immigrant families and children from federal pandemic and economic relief programs. The report highlights measures taken by several states to ensure that citizens and immigrants regardless of status have continued access to health care and public benefits. These measures include Illinois’ health benefits program for certain low-income seniors who cannot get medical assistance due to immigration status and Vermont’s economic stimulus equity program for residents who did not qualify for the CARES Act payment because of immigration status. Examples of adopted resolutions include the District of Columbia’s opposition to the federal public charge rule, Georgia’s call for federal legislation to provide citizenship to internationally born adult adoptees, and Utah’s designation of April 7 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. (Yasmina Popaja for The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

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