Report: Arizona, California list in top five for immigration laws passed

A recently released report from the Bipartisan Policy Center analyzed the number of immigration laws enacted between 2005 and 2017 and found Arizona and California ranked in the top five.

The center is the only Washington, D.C.-based think tank that actively promotes bipartisanship.

The report found Arizona passed 86 immigration laws during the time period while California ranked first on the list, passing 216 immigration laws.

Virginia, Utah, and Illinois also ranked in the top five. In total, states across the country enacted 2,100 immigration laws since 2005.

In the report, analysts found 20 percent of state immigration laws passed involved identification and driver’s licenses while 19 percent were related to budgets. The report also found 18 percent of laws passed dealt with law enforcement.

Additionally, the report found Democratic-led legislatures tend to pass laws that extend benefits to non-citizens, while Republican-led legislatures focused more on law enforcement laws.

Those a part of the think tank called for newly elected politicians to use the data to find a way to work with those across the aisle.