According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL),
state legislatures enacted a record number of laws and resolutions
related to immigration issues in 2010. A total of 46 state legislatures
and the District of Columbia enacted 208 new laws and adopted 138
resolutions, reported NCSL. Ten additional bills were passed by the
legislatures, but vetoed by state governors. In comparison, in 2009,
only 202 laws were enacted and 131 resolutions adopted.
Interestingly, there were less bills and resolutions introduced to
legislatures in 2010, as compared to 2009. In 2010, just over 1,400
bills and resolutions were introduced; in 2009, over 1,500 were
introduced.
Key focuses for introduced bills and resolutions were law enforcement,
identification and driver’s license-related bills, and
employment-related legislation. E-Verify-related legislation was
enacted in four states in 2010. While the focuses above have been seen
in previous years, a new topic introduced in 2010 was child abductions;
three states passed laws to help prevent these abductions.
Immigration-related legislation at the state level has been steadily
rising since 2005, when only 300 bills were introduced at the state
level.
