Report: Arizona ranks No. 5 in number of immigration laws enacted

PHOENIX — A report from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that Arizona ranked No. 5 in the nation for number of immigration laws enacted between 2005 and 2017.

The Washington, D.C., think tank found that Arizona enacted 86 immigration laws in that period, while No. 1 California enacted 216.

Virginia, Utah and Illinois filled out the top five. In total, states have enacted 2,100 immigration laws since 2005.

Twenty percent of state immigration laws enacted in this period dealt with identification and driver’s licenses, while 19 percent were related to budgeting and 18 percent were related to law enforcement.

The report found that Democratic-led legislatures tended to pass immigration laws that promoted integration and extended benefits to non-citizens.

Republican-led legislatures focused more on immigration laws dealing with enforcement.

However, party affiliation wasn’t the only factor affecting types of legislation passed.

The report said all-Democratic governments in the south have passed tougher immigration laws, while all-Republican governments in the mountain area passed more laws on integration.

The think tank called for newly elected politicians to use this data to develop a plan for bipartisan immigration reform.

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