Immigration Policy and Partisan Politics in the State Legislatures: 2010–2012
Table of Contents
Author(s)
Mark P. Jones
Fellow in Political Science | Joseph D. Jamail Chair in Latin American StudiesBenjamin Chou
Research AssistantTo access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.
Abstract
One point upon which virtually everyone can agree is that the current U.S. immigration system is broken. Partially in response to federal inaction in the area of immigration reform, between 2010 and 2012 legislatures in a number of states took it upon themselves to debate and, in some instances approve, restrictive omnibus legislation designed to address the presence of undocumented immigrants within their respective borders. This study utilizes roll-call vote data from these legislatures to examine the partisan, ethnic/racial and regional dynamics surrounding the debate over this restrictive omnibus immigration legislation in these states. We highlight the extremely partisan nature of the votes on this legislation, with virtually all Republicans supporting the omnibus bills and an overwhelming majority of Democrats opposing. While there is little intra-party variance in Republican support, among Democrats rural Anglo legislators were significantly more likely than their colleagues to break with the party majority and side with the GOP legislators in support of restrictive immigration reform legislation.
This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.