State and Local

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  • Blog

Does Pushing Undocumented Immigrants out of a State Help or Hurt the Local Economy?

This highlights a key policy choice states must make: is it better to have a growing economy with lower unemployment overall or marginally higher wages among a small group of workers?

  • Fact Sheet
Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigration Legislation Drains Budgets and Damages States’ Economies

Experience from states that have passed anti-immigration measures shows that the these laws can hinder prospects for economic growth, and the costs of implementing, defending, and enforcing these laws can cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

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All State and Local Content

  • Special Report

Q&A Guide to Arizona's Immigration Law

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2011
One year after the passage of Arizona’s tough new immigration law (SB1070), both opponents and proponents are...
  • Special Report

Debunking the Myth of "Sanctuary Cities"

Publication Date: 
April 26, 2011
There is much confusion about the term “sanctuary city.” The term is often used derisively by immigration opponents to blast what are best described as community policing policies. Critics claim...
  • Research and Analysis

A Rising Tide or a Shrinking Pie

Publication Date: 
March 24, 2011
Our national debate over urgently needed immigration reform is now careening through our state legislatures, city halls, and town councils due to political gridlock at the federal level. And nowhere...
  • Special Report

Back to the Border: A Historical Comparison of U.S. Border Politics

Publication Date: 
September 2, 2010
By Katherine Benton-Cohen and...
  • Special Report

Truth Held Hostage: Dissecting the Lies about Kidnapping in Arizona

Publication Date: 
August 20, 2010
Arizona politicians who support the state’s sweeping anti-immigrant law (SB 1070) are not particularly fond of...
  • Research and Analysis

Enforcing Arizona's SB 1070: A State of Confusion

Publication Date: 
July 27, 2010
Arizona and the federal government await a decision from a Phoenix district judge on whether enforcement of SB 1070 will move forward on July 29th, or whether all or some parts of the law will be...
  • Research and Analysis

The Impact of SB 1070: Usurping the Federal Government’s Ability to Set Enforcement Priorities

Publication Date: 
July 22, 2010
What proponents of laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 fail to understand is that state and local enforcement of immigration law actually jeopardizes the federal government’s ability to set priorities for...
  • Fact Sheet

Arizona’s Punishment Doesn’t Fit the Crime: Studies Show Decrease in Arizona Crime Rates

Publication Date: 
June 22, 2010
Updated 06/22/10 Supporters of Arizona’s harsh new immigration law claim that it is, in part, a crime-fighting measure. For instance, the bill’s author, Republican State Senator Russell...
  • Research and Analysis

Arizona's Anti-Immigration Law is also Anti-Faith

Publication Date: 
June 17, 2010
While visiting Phoenix, AZ in late January with a group of evangelical leaders who were in the border region to learn more about immigration, I met an immigrant family struggling to survive in a...
  • Research and Analysis

Arizona is Not the First State to Take Immigration Matters into their Own Hands

Publication Date: 
May 26, 2010
UPDATED 05/26/10 - Arizona’s controversial new immigration law (SB 1070) is the latest in a long line of efforts to regulate...
  • Blog

New Illinois Law Expected to Go Furthest Toward Ending Immigration Detention in the US

August 10, 2021

A new Illinois law limiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention is expected to effectively end detention in the state by next year. The law goes further than those that have...

  • Blog

Texas’ Order to Pull Over Vehicles Carrying Migrants Likely Violates the Constitution, Judge Rules

August 6, 2021

A federal judge on Tuesday dealt an important blow to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s flawed plan to stop migrants from entering and traveling through Texas. Governor Abbott issued an executive order...

  • Blog

Biden’s Unfulfilled Promise to End 287(g) Agreements with Local Law Enforcement

June 24, 2021

During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to end all 287(g) agreements made by the Trump administration. More than 150 days into his presidency, the promise remains unfulfilled. The 287(g...

  • Blog

Biden Moves to End Trump’s War on ‘Sanctuary Cities’

May 4, 2021

The Biden administration has ended a Trump-era policy of denying so-called sanctuary cities from receiving certain forms of federal funding. The policy had been used in retaliation against local...

  • Blog

3 Reasons Why Cities Should Not Sign 287(g) Agreements With ICE

September 21, 2020

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is expanding its power in Florida, where more than one out of every five residents in the state is an immigrant. The Florida Department of...

  • Blog

ICE and CBP Agents Were Deployed at Black Lives Matter Protests

June 25, 2020

People have taken to the streets across the country to protest the murder of George Floyd, who died at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. This exercise of First Amendment rights has...

  • Blog

Cities with ‘Sanctuary’ Policies Save Lives from Domestic Violence

June 5, 2020

Many communities across the U.S. have adopted so-called “sanctuary policies” that are intended to ensure that we all live in safe neighborhoods. When these policies are in place, local police don’...

  • Blog

How Immigration Enforcement Is Eroding Your Privacy

March 13, 2020

The United States has pursued aggressive increases in immigration enforcement over the past two decades across several presidencies. Congress has allocated increasing resources during this period...

  • Blog

Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland

February 21, 2020

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been targeting U.S. citizens’ foreign spouses when they apply for legal immigration status. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland put a...

  • Blog

Republican and Democratic Officials Continue to Accept Refugees, Rejecting Trump’s Executive Order

January 7, 2020

Update: On January 15, federal Judge Peter Messitte issued a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the Trump administration from enforcing its executive order giving state and local...

  • Press Release

Georgia State Legislature Pursuing Budget Busting Solutions to Immigration

March 1, 2011

Washington D.C. – In the face of a $1.7 billion budget shortfall in fiscal year 2011, Georgia state legis

  • Press Release

Arizona Judge Delineates Between State and Federal Authority

July 28, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Today, Phoenix district court judge Susan Bolton enjoined key provisions of Arizona's controversial immigration law, SB1070.

  • Press Release

The United States v. Arizona: Drawing a Clear Line Between Federal and State Immigration Authority

July 6, 2010

Washington, D.C. - Today, the United States Department of Justice filed a

  • Press Release

Defining Roles: Federal vs. State Immigration Authority

June 22, 2010

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Anti-Immigrant Group Recommends Economic Self-Destruction for Arizona

May 18, 2010

Washington D.C. - In data released "exclusively to FoxNews.com," the

  • Blog

Asylum Seekers Become Political Pawns in Governors’ Transportation Stunts

September 23, 2022

The Republican governors of Texas, Arizona, and now Florida are playing a cynical political game with the lives of migrants—including many asylum seekers fleeing persecution. Officials in these...

  • Fact Sheet

New Americans in Utah

Publication Date: 
May 3, 2022
This research brief highlights the key role that new Americans are playing in Utah as participants in the state’s workforce, taxpayers, consumers, entrepreneurs, international students, and more.
  • Blog

Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Bills Follow a Decade-Long Trend

March 11, 2022

The path toward commonsense federal immigration solutions seems to be continuing the cyclical and frustrating pattern of two steps forward, one step back. As soon as a measure is introduced—be it...

  • Blog

DHS Infringed on First Amendment Rights by Collecting Intel on Portland Protestors

October 6, 2021

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials improperly developed intelligence reports nicknamed “baseball cards” about individuals arrested in Portland, Oregon during the civil unrest...

  • Blog

With New Florida Lawsuit, States’ Efforts to Dictate Federal Immigration Policy Continue

September 30, 2021

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a new lawsuit on Tuesday seeking an order requiring the Biden administration to detain almost all people arriving at the Southwest border. It is the latest...

  • Blog

California Law Would Prevent Transfers From Local Law Enforcement to ICE Custody

September 9, 2021

Proposed legislation in California that would further limit the state’s involvement in immigration detention has made progress toward becoming law. The VISION Act would prevent transfers to U.S....

  • Blog

TX Court Issues Stunning Order: US Government Can’t Set Priorities for Immigration Enforcement

August 20, 2021

Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas on August 19 blocked a set of enforcement priorities the Biden administration had issued in January and February 2021 in an attempt to focus...

  • Blog

New Illinois Law Expected to Go Furthest Toward Ending Immigration Detention in the US

August 10, 2021

A new Illinois law limiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention is expected to effectively end detention in the state by next year. The law goes further than those that have...

  • Blog

Texas’ Order to Pull Over Vehicles Carrying Migrants Likely Violates the Constitution, Judge Rules

August 6, 2021

A federal judge on Tuesday dealt an important blow to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s flawed plan to stop migrants from entering and traveling through Texas. Governor Abbott issued an executive order...

  • Blog

Biden’s Unfulfilled Promise to End 287(g) Agreements with Local Law Enforcement

June 24, 2021

During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to end all 287(g) agreements made by the Trump administration. More than 150 days into his presidency, the promise remains unfulfilled. The 287(g...

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