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Efforts to pass stricter immigration laws at the state level have surged during President Biden’s administration, according to a report released by a national civil rights group on Thursday. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest Latino civil rights organization in the U.S., identified 233 proposed laws they classify as “anti-immigrant”—a significant increase from 132 in 2023, 64 in 2022, 81 in 2021, and 51 in 2020.
These legislative proposals include criminalizing unauthorized entry into the U.S. at the state level, challenging “sanctuary” policies that limit local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and addressing concerns about noncitizen voting—rarities according to studies. There are also measures targeting the employment of undocumented workers.
The report, exclusively shared with CBS News, highlights how Republican state officials are increasingly challenging federal authority over immigration and border policy. Since 2020, 97% of the proposed state immigration laws have been sponsored by Republican lawmakers, with Texas leading with 91 proposals in the last four years.
Although most of these proposals have not been enacted, some states with Republican-majority legislatures have passed them. Last year, the Texas legislature approved SB4, a groundbreaking law allowing state officials to arrest, jail, and prosecute suspected undocumented migrants and permitting state judges to order their return to Mexico instead of prosecution. However, this law was blocked by a federal judge at the Biden administration’s request, pending an appeal.
Following Texas’ example, states like Iowa, Louisiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma have introduced similar immigration laws, facing legal challenges from the Justice Department. Arizona voters will decide in November on a ballot measure to criminalize illegal border crossings, proposed by state Republican lawmakers.
In 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed one of the toughest modern state immigration laws, which included penalties for employers hiring unauthorized workers, invalidated driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants issued by other states, mandated hospitals to collect patients’ immigration statuses, and created new crimes for transporting undocumented individuals into Florida.
Republican state leaders argue that they need to address immigration policy due to record illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border, which they attribute to President Biden’s lenient policies. Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated, “Biden’s deliberate inaction has left Texas to fend for itself,” when he signed SB4.
Conversely, LULAC views these state measures as divisive and potentially leading to racial bias against Latinos, many of whom are undocumented immigrants. LULAC CEO Juan Proaño criticized state officials for handling immigration issues unilaterally instead of working bipartisanly through Congress for comprehensive reform, including clearer pathways to citizenship and asylum processes.
LULAC is currently involved in a legal dispute with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office has raided the homes of some LULAC members in a voter fraud investigation—a claim denied by those targeted. LULAC has requested a Justice Department investigation into potential civil rights violations by Texas.
Kathleen Joseph-Bush, an analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, notes that state lawsuits against federal immigration policies are reshaping the landscape. Republican-led states like Texas have successfully paused several of President Biden’s significant immigration actions, including a program offering legal status to some undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens.
Joseph-Bush observes that both federal and state governments have taken unilateral actions on immigration due to the lack of significant congressional reform over the past three decades. She emphasized that the outdated immigration system, based on policies from the 1980s and 1990s, is inadequate for modern challenges, exacerbating the difficulties faced by both levels of government.