Laws 2015, 4, 729–754; doi:10.3390/laws4040729 OPEN ACCESS laws ISSN 2075-471X www.mdpi.com/journal/laws Article Immigration Federalism as Ideology: Lessons from the States Lina Newton Political Science Department, Hunter College, CUNY, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +1-212-772-5500; Fax: +1-212-650-3669 Academic Editor: Ingrid V. Eagly Received: 14 October 2015 / Accepted: 14 November 2015 / Published: 25 November 2015 Abstract: Over the last decade states passed hundreds of immigration bills covering a range of policy areas. This article considers the recent state legislative surge against scholarly treatments of immigration federalism, and identifies the symbolic politics in state lawmaking. The analysis combines a historical treatment of key court decisions that delineated boundaries of state and federal immigration roles with a legislative analysis of over 2200 immigration bills passed between 2006 and 2013, to identify the numerous ways in which national immigration policy shapes state measures. It argues that recent laws must be considered against symbolic federalism which privileges state sovereignty and justifies social policy devolution by advancing frames of intergovernmental conflict, state-level policy pragmatism, and federal ineffectiveness. Keywords: immigration federalism; state immigration laws; symbolic politics 1. Introduction On 8 November 1994, voters in California overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure, Proposition 187, which denied a variety of public services—including public schooling and medical care—to those whom public servants “suspected” of being unauthorized immigrants. Polling conducted just in advance of the state’s general election showed a public well-aware that even if passed, Proposition 187 would end up in court.