How the Fifty States and Federal Government are Reshaping Immigration Enforcement and Implications for the Public

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Abstract

While immigration policy has traditionally been a federal responsibility, states have been increasingly exercising their authority and discretion to develop and implement policies that place greater restrictions on unauthorized immigrants, as well as some that are aimed at supporting their economic and social integration into communities. State immigration laws, resolutions and administrative provisions have exploded since the early 2000s: over 300 per year from 2006-2015, 466 bills in 2017 alone (Trump’s first year in office), and 243 bills in 2025 (the first year of Trump’s second administration). This high level of state immigration enforcement activity has also increased contradictions between federal and state immigration policies, as well as within states (between state and local authorities), as recently seen in Minneapolis and other large U.S. cities. In addition, the types of legislative activity coming from the states and executive orders from the federal government are increasingly high stakes for immigrants and our society more broadly, such as: Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship; state-level activity to end or erode the protections of Plyer vs. Doe for children’s access to a free K-12 education; mandated participation in the 287(g) program that deputizes local law enforcement to perform federal immigration duties, and authorizations of military involvement in immigration enforcement, e.g., allowing National Guard troops to question, arrest, and detain individuals for immigration violations.

This “lightning” roundtable—designed to include a wider variety of perspectives with shorter commentary from each—will bring together 6 panelists to discuss the latest federal and state policy actions (and local responses) on U.S. immigration enforcement and their implications for immigrants and wider society. In addition to describing their potential or actual consequences, the panel participants will suggest strategies for how scholars, practitioners, and the broader public can respond to these developments that affect education, health, economic, social welfare, and other domains. The panelists include esteemed scholars and professionals whose work has both documented the impacts of immigration enforcement and shaped policy through research dissemination and policy action (amicus briefs, testimonies, legislative hearings, and policy development): Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes (Professor of Economics at University of California, Merced), Matthew Hall (Professor of Public Policy and Sociology and Director of the Cornell Population Center, Cornell University), Chloe East (Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado Boulder and Director of the Institute for Behavioral Sciences' Population Program), Representative Andres Vargas (D-MA, who has led efforts to pass the Protect Act in Massachusetts), Tara Watson (Director of the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity, Brookings Institution), and Wendy Cervantes (Director of the Immigration and Immigrant Families team at the Center for Law and Social Policy and co-founder of the Children Thrive Action Network). The roundtable will be moderated by Carolyn Heinrich (Vanderbilt University) with opportunities for audience members to submit questions for roundtable members throughout the session and interactive Q&A later in the session.

Policy Area

• Population and Migration Issues

Moderator

• Carolyn J. Heinrich, Vanderbilt University

Organizer

• Carolyn J. Heinrich, Vanderbilt University

Speakers

• Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, University of California, Merced

• Tara Watson, Brookings Institution

• Wendy Dorothy Cervantes, Center for Law and Social Policy

• Andy Vargas, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

• Chloe N East, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Matthew Hall, Cornell University