Why Some State Immigration Laws are Welcoming but Others are Downri...

1. Immigration policy reform has become a topic of almost daily national debate. Businesses, consumers, employers, labor unions, law enforcement offi cers, higher education offi cials, and not to mention immigrants themselves, all have something at stake in immigration policy reform. All of the recent discussion of immigration policy at the national level makes it easy to forget that signifi cant changes have already been made in immigration policy at the state level, many of which will likely affect the policy discourse and the nature of any policy changes at the national level. As the nation considers how to move forward with immigration policy reform, we should fi rst understand how we got to this point. What has shaped immigration policy changes at the state level in the last decade?

2. Using an analysis of all 50 states, James Monogan, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, fi nds that immigration policy is affected most by legislative professionalism, electoral ideology, state wealth, and change in the foreignborn population. Specifi cally, the more professional a legislature is, the more likely they are to enact welcoming laws toward immigrants, which Monogan suggests is likely because career politicians in these legislatures are more concerned with their future electoral prospects than those in less professional legislatures. In other words, state legislators are mindful of how opponents could garner votes in the next election and they consider this when voting on immigration policy. Not surprisingly, states with a more liberal electorate are more likely to take a welcoming stance on immigration policy, suggesting that policy makers are somewhat responsive to public opinion. Economics and demographics also play a role, as states with a higher per capita gross state product tend to pass more welcoming laws towards immigrants while states experiencing an increase in the foreign-born population tend to pass policies that are more hostile towards immigrants.

3. These results are quite interesting as they suggest that immigration policy is a function of the professional nature of a state’s legislature, public opinion in the state, overall state economic conditions, and state demographics. Monogan’s results offer a clear picture of how states have chosen to make changes to immigration policy over the last decade in the face of federal inaction.

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