While Congress has been unable to reach a political compromise
on comprehensive immigration legislation, state legislators and
local politicians have been active in the immigration area. In the
absence of new federal legislation and responding to political
pressures to do something about the immigration problem, state
legislatures and local communities have enacted immigration
statutes and ordinances during the past two years.
Although recently enacted state and local statutes do not change
current federal immigration law and may ultimately be declared
unconstitutional because of the federal government's pre-eminent
role in immigration matters, they pose additional liabilities,
burdens and risks not only to illegal immigrants but also to
employers who may employ or do business with unauthorized
workers.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that as
of April 13, immigration legislation had been introduced in all 50
states' 2007 legislative sessions. Many of these bills are related
to employment issues. This followed a busy 2006 legislative year
during which 570 immigration-related...
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