According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), state legislatures enacted a record number of laws and resolutions related to immigration issues in 2010. A total of 46 state legislatures and the District of Columbia enacted 208 new laws and adopted 138 resolutions, reported NCSL. Ten additional bills were passed by the legislatures, but vetoed by state governors. In comparison, in 2009, only 202 laws were enacted and 131 resolutions adopted.

Interestingly, there were less bills and resolutions introduced to legislatures in 2010, as compared to 2009. In 2010, just over 1,400 bills and resolutions were introduced; in 2009, over 1,500 were introduced.

Key focuses for introduced bills and resolutions were law enforcement, identification and driver’s license-related bills, and employment-related legislation. E-Verify-related legislation was enacted in four states in 2010. While the focuses above have been seen in previous years, a new topic introduced in 2010 was child abductions; three states passed laws to help prevent these abductions.

Immigration-related legislation at the state level has been steadily rising since 2005, when only 300 bills were introduced at the state level.