Enacted State Legislation Related to Immigrants and Immigration

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures 2007, the Immigration Policy Watch, 2007

Overview

As of July 2, 2007, no fewer than 1404 pieces of legislation related to immigrants and immigration had been introduced among the 50 state legislatures. Of these bills, 182 bills became law in 43 states. Four bills have been vetoed by the Governor.

State legislators have introduced roughly two and a half times more bills in 2007 than in

2006. The number of enactments from 2006 (84) has more than doubled to 170 in 2007.

Several states are still in session so there could be additional legislation related to immigrants later this year.

In the continued absence of a comprehensive federal reform of the United States’ challenged immigration system, states have displayed an unprecedented level of activity – and have developed a variety of their own approaches and solutions.

Immigration-related legislation covers almost every policy arena relevant in state legislatures. Many states have focused on employment, health, identification and driver’s and other licenses, law enforcement, public benefits, and human trafficking.

In the employment arena, states have introduced and enacted a variety of legislation focusing on employment eligibility verification requirements on both the employer and the employee level. Several enactments also focus on employment eligibility verification with respect to unemployment benefits and workers compensation.

States also remain very committed to combating human trafficking. A variety of state laws stiffen penalties, set up commissions to study and monitor the subject and also provide services for victims.

Several states enacted proposals in the field of public benefits, requiring proof of lawful residence in the United States for the receipt of public benefits. A number of states also enacted programs aiming to facilitate and promote the integration of immigrants into society.

Another area with significant state activity is that of identification and documentation requirements. Several states have implemented laws that put in place identity verification mechanisms, including lawful status determinations, before driver’s and business licenses are issued to applicants.

This report gives a quantitative overview of introduced legislation and briefly analyzes enacted laws relating to immigrants and refugees. This process of legislative tracking and reporting is based on a comprehensive and inclusive methodology and captures all state legislation in which immigrants – whether authorized or unauthorized, migrants, aliens and refugees – are affected. In 2007, states addressed both enforcement and integration issues related to immigrants.

IMMIGARTION LEGISLATION ENACTED BY STATES

States across the country are enacting increasingly harsh penalties for undocumented immigrants and their employers. Which states have the harshest laws? Which states protect undocumented children? Here's a look at immigration legislation in most of the 50 states by legislation category such as education and employment.

List courtesy of: DiversityInc

STATE BY STATE (in alphabetical order)

Alabama

Resolutions

(4/26/07) Voting or registering to vote by undocumented immigrants is a felony.

(6/7/07) Establishes the Join Interim Patriotic Immigration Commission, outlines its duties, responsibilities, purpose and membership.

Arizona

Education

(5/8/2007) Establishes an adult-education division within the Department of Education responsible for teaching English to immigrants and supplementing the assimilation work of various agencies, among other requirements.

Employment

(4/24/2007) Addresses overtime compensation for undocumented immigrants.

(7/2/2007) Prevents employers from knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented workers and requires all employers to use the Basic Pilot Program to determine employees' legal status; forms a committee to study employer-sanctions laws in Arizona; and provides penalties with respect to business licenses.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/8/2007) Applicants for liquors licenses must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Law Enforcement

(5/4/2007) Allows for detention of a material witness if testimony of a person is important in a criminal proceeding and subpoenas may not be practical because of the immigration status of the person.

(6/25/2007) Funds immigration-law enforcement in the state.

(6/25/2007) Denies release on bail for a felony if there is probable cause that the suspect is an undocumented immigrant.

(7/2/2007) Requires agency to submit detainee's country of origin and criminal record to the court and the prosecuting agency to determine whether person is eligible for bail.

Voting

(7/2/2007) Vetoed legislation would have instructed county recorders in Arizona to reject any application for voter registration that is not accompanied by proof of citizenship and provides list of acceptable documents.

Resolutions

(2/20/07) Urges Congress to repeal privacy stipulations in the Real ID Act of 2005.

(4/18/07) Increases rights of law-enforcement officials to enforce border security.

(4/30/07) Urges Congress to continue to fund and complete border-security program that facilitates legal cross-border travel.

Arkansas

Employment

(2/28/2007) State agencies cannot contract with businesses that employ undocumented immigrants and provide certification to this effect.

(3/28/2007) Certain migrant farm laborers are not included under the definition of "employee" and are therefore excluded from minimum-wage and overtime laws.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/30/2007) Applicants for liquor licenses must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Resolutions

(3/29/07) Urges Congress to secure borders and develop comprehensive immigration reform that cracks down on human trafficking, including a guest-worker program (does not mean amnesty), a guest-worker taxation program that enables guest workers to get limited basic healthcare, and cooperating with other countries and the state of Arkansas to address current problems stemming from undocumented immigration.

California

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/14/2007) Applicants for firearms must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Public Benefits

(7/2/2007) Extends public benefits such as housing, income and educational support to migrant workers in the state and requires agencies responsible for distributing these benefits to comply.

Colorado

Employment

(3/16/2007) Requires use of the Basic Pilot Program for public-service contracts to confirm employment eligibility of new hires.

(4/26/2007) Identifies appropriate legal documents that prove legal U.S. residence for people applying for unemployment when individual is not a Colorado resident.

Law Enforcement

(6/1/2007) Requires a no-bond warrant be issued in a criminal case when the defendant is found to be an undocumented immigrant. Such a warrant must be issued when a defendant who has posted a bond is released to the immigration and customs-enforcement agency, and prohibits court from dismissing criminal charges against undocumented people.

Public Benefits

(3/1/07) Individuals applying for public benefits must provide proof of citizenship status.

(3/22/07) Adds standards for verification of citizenship status to Department of Human Services for regulation.

(5/14/2007) Provides provisions on child-custody laws to prevent abduction of child by someone who is undergoing a change in immigration status or is undocumented.

Resolutions

(05/17/2007) Requests reimbursement from federal government for costs associated with incarcerating undocumented immigrants.

Connecticut

Education

(5/19/2007) Sets limitations and eligibility requirements for Visiting International Teacher permits.

Human Trafficking

(6/11/2007) Establishes a state council to monitor human trafficking within the state, within the country and across international borders.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/11/2007) Requires department to prepare birth certificate or certificate of foreign birth for children born outside the country who are adopted by U.S. citizens or documented residents in the state.

Delaware

Human Trafficking

(7/12/2007) Knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating or possessing any passport or other immigration document of another person is a felony. Also defines human trafficking and provides restitution and protection for victims of human trafficking.

Resolutions

(6/27/2007) Commissions the Delaware Economic Development office to study the costs and impact of undocumented immigration on the state.

Florida

Human Trafficking

(7/1/2007) Gives human-trafficking victims access to state-funded support services.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/15/2007) Applicants for driver's licenses must be U.S. citizens and provide proof that they are of a "nonimmigrant classification."

Miscellaneous

(6/9/2007) Vehicles transporting migrant or seasonal farm workers that fail to show a certification sticker incur a $100 fine.

(6/27/2007) Motor-vehicle, motor-home and vessel-registration fees require an additional annual $50 fee for undocumented immigrants.

Georgia

Employment

(5/18/2007) Compensation paid to undocumented workers by a taxpayer cannot be considered a business expense.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/11/2007) Governor of Georgia can delay implementing the Real ID Act until the Department of Homeland Security has issued regulations that the governor finds will adequately protect the interests of state citizens related to citizenship status in the state.

(5/29/2007) Alters eligibility requirements regarding conservation-use assessment to include natural citizens and naturalized citizens.

Hawaii

Employment

(5/3/2007) Employing undocumented workers is prohibited in state and local government.

(5/16/2007) Certain undocumented agricultural workers are ineligible for unemployment.

Health

(6/30/2007) Establishes the Hawaii children's healthcare program and the Hawaii infant care program as temporary three-year pilot programs to cover the children who include immigrants with temporary visas, otherwise ineligible for state and federal healthcare.

Resolutions

(3/13/07) Opposes the creation of a national identification card and urges Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005.

(3/29/07) Condemns the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services' Fee Increase and recognizes immigrants' contributions to the state.

(4/12/07) Expresses state support for international education pulling students into the state, citing its value to the state's future.

(5/14/07) Requests the Hawaii Department of Health convene a task force concerned with providing services to migrants from Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.

(5/14/07) Requests the Department of Human Services help provide public-service benefits to undocumented victims of human trafficking.

(5/14/07) Requests the speedy issuance of visas for family reunification.

(5/14/07) Urges Congress to enact legislation relating to Filipino family reunification, or similar legislation to provide speedily issue visas to Filipino Veterans' children with approved immigration petitions.

Idaho

Public Benefits

(3/30/07) Requires proof of citizenship status for public-benefit eligibility.

Resolutions

(3/13/07) Requests improved border security and urges state Congress members to support the repeal of the federal REAL ID Act of 2005.

Illinois

Employment

(8/13/2007) Regulates civil-rights violations for employers participating in the Basic Pilot Program and prohibits discrimination on the basis of citizenship.

(8/13/2007) Department of Human Rights shall establish a statewide advisory council to study the impact of employment eligibility-verification systems in the state.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(8/31/2007) Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for firearms licenses.

Law Enforcement

(8/16/2007) Undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies may be remanded to the custody of the U.S. Attorney General or deported upon motion of the state attorney.

Public Benefits

(8/28/2007) Allows migrant children to participate in youth-build programs.

Resolutions

(4/24/07) Urges Congress to enable those who attain permanent legal status by the age of 1 to run for president; also applies to children adopted outside the United States.

(5/22/07) Urges Congress to repeal the federal REAL ID Act.

Indiana

Education

(5/2/2007) Makes "a foreign student visiting in Indiana under any student exchange program approved by the state board" eligible for certain state aid.

Health

(5/2/2007) Creates a "rural healthcare pilot program" to allow healthcare providers, including migrant health centers, to receive grants for program participation.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/8/2007) Driver's-license applicants must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Legal Services

(4/26/07) The law regulates notary publics, including prohibiting them from taking acknowledgement from a non-English speaker without having translated and read the instrument to them in their language.

Public Benefits

(5/4/07) Sets qualification requirements for immigrants for public-benefits programs and requires verification of legal residence.

Iowa

Health

(5/29/2007) Depending upon the reauthorization of children's healthcare legislation and resources allocated for this legislation, the state may expand coverage to documented immigrant children and all pregnant women deemed ineligible under current federal law.

Kansas

Employment

(4/5/2007) Excludes certain immigrant agricultural workers from the definition of employee in the Employment Security Law.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(4/20/2007) For driver's licenses, requires submission of a photo ID unless the document contains the applicant's full legal name, date of birth, address and Social Security number; requires a Social Security number to remain confidential; requires proof of lawful U.S. presence and residence in the state; requires a mandatory facial image capture; and incorporates machine-readable technology.

Miscellaneous

(5/11/2007) Declares English the official language of the state and requires all documents and instructions be prepared in English. Offices may produce documents in other languages at their discretion.

Public Benefits

(4/5/2007) The Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act sets guidelines for judges to determine when a child is at risk for abduction, including whether the petitioner or respondent is undergoing a change in immigration or citizenship status that would adversely affect the respondent's ability to remain in the United States legally.

(5/11/2007) Outlines requirements and eligibility for public benefits for immigrants.

Kentucky

Employment

(5/23/2007) Non-citizens and non-U.S. or Canadian residents aren't eligible for workers'-compensation self-insurance.

Human Trafficking

(3/19/2007) Establishes the Division of Child Abuse, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking Services within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/23/2007) Requires driver's-license applicants to be U.S. citizens, permanent residents or of other documented status. The law also requires agencies that are hiring telecommunicators to be U.S. citizens or documented resident immigrants.

Louisiana

Health

(7/9/2007) Requires medical attendants in licensed nursing homes to be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or permanent U.S. residents.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/22/2007) Requires driver's-license applicants using foreign passports as proof of identity to provide immigration documents showing that they are authorized to be in the country for at least 180 days or 60 days for agricultural workers.

Maine

Employment

(6/5/07) Requires proof of citizenship status to receive unemployment benefits from agricultural work.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/15/2007) Only state residents are eligible for driver's licenses and non-driver identification cards; nonresident students and active-duty military personnel and the spouses and children of people on active military duty can receive non-driver identification cards if they are U.S. citizens or documented immigrants; and relates to migrant workers and others who may be affected by changes in eligibility requirements.

Law Enforcement

(6/4/2007) Involves the right of federal officers with jurisdiction over immigration, customs and border-security matters to carry firearms.

Maryland

Human Trafficking

(5/8/2007) Prohibits human trafficking and using false or stolen ID.

Legal Services

(5/17/2007) Funds related to immigration legal services for the development, with Catholic Charities, of an Immigrant Service Program Facility.

Public Benefits

(3/22/07) Defines immigrants' eligibility for benefits and aid and outlines requirements for attaining those benefits.

(5/8/07) Funds immigrant programs, benefits and supplements benefits in some areas, such as healthcare, when documented immigrants are ineligible for federal benefits.

Minnesota

Education

(5/9/2007) Vetoed law that would have provided funding for educational programs and eliminated non-resident tuition at certain schools through additional funding.

Employment

(5/24/2007) Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Health

(5/24/2007) Requires that medical-license applicants provide a Social Security number, immigrant-registration card or tax identification number. Licensure requirements of two years' graduate study and accreditation are waived for permanent U.S. residents admitted before Oct. 1, 1991, and temporary non-immigrants who have exceptional ability in the sciences according to federal guidelines.

(5/25/2007) Requires the human-services commissioner to provide information and referrals to newly arrived immigrants and states that childcare-service grants may be awarded for programs that serve ethnic immigrant and refugee communities.

Mississippi

Employment

(4/25/2007) Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

Missouri

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(7/13/2007) Requires certain professionals to be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants for eligibility for professional licensing (endowed-care cemeteries, landscape architects, chiropractor training, funeral directors and embalmers, physical therapists, professional counselors, social workers, family therapists, pharmacy interns and real-estate appraisers).

Montana

Employment

(3/27/2007) Undocumented immigrants, including agricultural workers on temporary visas, are not considered "employees" and are ineligible for unemployment insurances.

(4/28/2007) In relation to independent contractors, undocumented immigrants, including agricultural workers or students on temporary visas, are not included under the definition of "employee."

Human Trafficking

(4/5/2007) Forbids involuntary servitude and human trafficking.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(4/17/2007) Directs the state agency not to implement the federal Real ID Act.

(4/24/2007) Only the last four numbers of Social Security numbers need be provided to receive recreational licenses in the state. Applicants for the license must state whether they are U.S. citizens or immigrants.

Nebraska

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/15/2007) Applicants for professional licenses must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Nevada

Education

(6/14/07) Millennium Scholarship applicants must be legal residents of the state for at least two years.

Employment

(6/15/2007) Alters workers' compensation to exclude immigrants who are non-U.S. residents at the time of the accident, injury or death.

Human Trafficking

(6/2/2007) Defines human trafficking as a felony with a sentence of one to 20 years, depending on the degree of the crime, in state prison and a fine of no more than $50,000. Also makes the crime one for which an individual may be charged as a habitual felon. Victims can recover actual and punitive damages in civil action with the personal property of the convicted felon subject to forfeiture.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/13/2007) Revises certain segments of legislation regarding the issuance and renewal of drivers' licenses and identification cards of U.S. citizens and documented residents of the state to comport with the federal Real ID Act.

Resolutions

(5/14/07) Urges Congress to repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005.

New Mexico

Education

(5/9/07) Vetoed law that would have established a program aimed at first-year migrant and seasonal farm-worker students at New Mexico State University to improve graduation rates and meet educational needs.

Employment

(4/2/2007) Excludes certain immigrants admitted to the United States to perform agricultural-labor services from unemployment compensation, pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Resolutions

(2/19/2007) Urges Congress to develop and execute a national immigrant-worker program.

(4/11/2007) Urges the federal government provide greater funding and assistance to the state of New Mexico to offset cost of being a border state.

(4/11/2007) Asks the New Mexico Legislative Council to create a committee to research and develop solutions and recommendations for strengthening the state border while boosting the economy.

(4/11/2007) Supports Sunland efforts to have the federal government create a vehicle and pedestrian noncommercial customs port of entry at the international border between Ciudad Juarez-Anapra, Mexico, and Sunland Park, N.M.

New York

Health

(4/9/2007) Provides funds to the Department of Agriculture and markets for the farmers' market program and migrant worker services; increases the cost of living for migrant health workers. Allocates funds for a grant pool for community health centers to provide primary healthcare and outreach to migrant workers and their families.

Human Trafficking

(6/6/2007) Outlines provisions for dealing with human trafficking and provides services and restitution to victims.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(7/3/2007) Grants a one-time three-year waiver of citizenship or resident immigrant status to certain immigrants who want to get veterinary licenses because of a shortage in veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

Law Enforcement

(4/9/2007) Provides funding for costs associated with incarceration of undocumented immigrants.

North Dakota

Education

(5/3/07) Requires tracking of "new immigrant English learners" who were not born in the United States and have not been educated in the United States for more than three years, and additional compensation for the schools that serve them.

Ohio

Public Benefits

(6/30/2007) Defines state benefits for immigrants in terms of public education and for migrant workers mostly in terms of childcare and healthcare.

Oklahoma

Education

(6/4/07) Only U.S. citizens or documented immigrants are eligible for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP).

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/4/2007) Allows issuance of armed private-investigator license and requirements, which include being a U.S. citizen or documented resident immigrant.

Law Enforcement

(4/17/2007) Police- or peace-officer trainees must provide proof of U.S. citizenship or documented status for certification.

Miscellaneous

(5/8/2007) Restricts access to driver's licenses, ID cards and other licenses to documented immigrants and U.S. citizens; ends several forms of public assistance and places tighter restrictions on higher-education benefits with some exceptions regarding emergency care, disaster assistance and certain immunizations. Requires state and local government's law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law, and makes it a felony to harbor, transport, conceal or shelter undocumented immigrants on penalty of fines. Requires the use of electronic employment-verification system to determine eligibility and makes the termination of a U.S. citizen while retaining an undocumented immigrant on the payroll eligible for a discrimination charge.

(5/14/2007) Defines a tax of 8 percent instead of 30 percent as used in the Internal Revenue Code for state taxable income of nonresident immigrants.

Oregon

Employment

(6/1/2007) Workers found in violation of U.S. immigration laws are not eligible for disability awards under workers'-compensation claims.

Human Trafficking

(7/17/2007) Defines some forms of human trafficking as a first-degree offense with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $375,000 fine or both, and creates a task force to prevent human trafficking.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/13/2007) Workers' compensation will not be granted to individuals found in violation of U.S. immigration laws.

(6/13/2007) Requires proof of U.S. citizenship or documentation that resident has been in the country for at least six months, has intent to acquire citizenship and can present proof of written declaration to the sheriff at the time of license application.

(6/25/2007) Broadens the scope of identity-theft crime and false proof of U.S. citizenship to include stolen identities of living and deceased people.

Legal Services

(5/9/2007) Performing duties classified as immigration consultation without active status in the Oregon Bar is illegal.

Miscellaneous

(5/31/2007) Allows the governor to declare abnormal disruption of market under specified circumstances and prohibit merchants and wholesalers from charging excessively high prices during one of these situations, which may include a crisis influx of migrants deemed unmanageable by a county.

Rhode Island

Human Trafficking

(6/27/2007) Addresses child human-trafficking victims and fines and imprisonment for violators of the law.

(7/2/2007) Defines human trafficking and involuntary servitude as a criminal offense.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(7/2/2007) A Rhode Island license or identification card will be provided to residents on or after their 21st birthday proving legality of drinking age provided the applicant can prove he or she is a U.S. citizen or documented-immigrant resident.

South Carolina

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/13/2007) The state will not participate in implementation of the Real ID Act.

Resolutions

(3/7/07) Urges the state governor to issue an executive order that prevents undocumented immigrants from receiving any public services or assistance.

(5/31/2007) Urges Congress to repeal or decline implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005 and to oppose the creation of a federal national identification card.

South Dakota

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/26/2007) Recognizes certain adoption orders from foreign jurisdictions and issues birth certificates for specific inter-country adoptions under specified conditions as a means of identification and proof of citizenship status.

Tennessee

Employment

(5/24/2007) Prohibits the use in the state of a federal individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) as a form of identification to prove immigration status.

(6/26/2007) Describes administrative actions and procedures against employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants, including the temporary suspension of business licenses.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/21/2007) Allows those authorized by the federal government to be in the United States to apply for temporary driver's licenses.

Law Enforcement

(05/15/2007) Requires the Department of Safety to work with federal authorities to executive specific immigration-law-enforcement functions, and authorizes trained highway-patrol officers to enforce federal immigration and customs laws in Tennessee.

(6/1/2007) Prohibits transport of undocumented immigrants into the state, imposes a fine for violators, and funnels money received from such fines to costs associated with deporting undocumented immigrants that enter the state in this manner.

Texas

Employment

(6/15/2007) Requires businesses that receive public subsidies to certify that they are not and will not knowingly employ or hire undocumented workers.

Health

(5/22/2007) Enables the Travis County Healthcare district board to certify a health organization, including migrant health centers, to employ or contract with physicians if the group is in a hospital district and meets certain operational standards.

Human Trafficking

(6/6/2007) Promotes cooperation between local and statewide governments to prevent human trafficking.

(6/15/2007) Involves human-trafficking victims' rights to prosecute violator.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(6/06/2007) Requires improved driver's license or personal-identification certificate.

(6/15/2007) Applicants for provisional mortgage brokers' licenses must be U.S. citizens or documented immigrants.

Law Enforcement

(5/17/2007) People convicted of misdemeanors, if not documented immigrants or U.S. citizens, may be deported or denied naturalization under federal law.

Public Benefits

(6/15/07) Requires citizenship or documented status to be eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) employment programs and participation in those programs by certain parents who are not TANF recipients

Utah

Education

(3/20/07) Makes it easier for documented immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition

Employment

(3/13/2007) Undocumented workers are not eligible for unemployment compensation.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/12/2007) Undocumented immigrants in the state can buy hunting, fishing, trapping, seining, and fur-dealer licenses and certificates of registration.

Public Benefits

(3/14/2007) The Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act sets guidelines for judges to determine when a child is at risk for abduction, including whether the petitioner or respondent is undergoing a change in immigration or citizenship status.

Resolutions

(3/13/07) Appoints legislative committee to examine the impact of identity theft on undocumented immigrants and human trafficking.

Vermont

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(5/30/2007) Deals with laws concerning driver licenses issued to U.S. citizens and documented immigrants.

Resolutions

(4/13/07) Urges Congress to enact the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2007; highlights the economic value of immigrant workers to the state.

Public Benefits

(5/17/07) Establishes different social programs and sets limits on other programs that would help immigrants who would be federally ineligible for certain benefits because of their citizenship status to apply for state funds.

Virginia

Education

(3/12/2007) Allows release of personal student records to the U.S. government if the student is a U.S. veteran, adopted, dependant of a veteran or immigrant of any kind.

(3/13/07) Any student with an immigration visa or considered a political refugee is eligible for in-state tuition, but any person with a student or other temporary visa is not supposed to remain in Virginia indefinitely and therefore is ineligible for in-state tuition.

(3/27/07) Defines residency requirements for in-state tuition, but does not mention immigrant populations.

Employment

(3/27/07) Considers the term "aliens and minors" within the definition as an employee under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.

Health

(3/24/2007) Migrant health centers are eligible to apply for state Pregnant Women Support grants that provide funds to women facing unplanned pregnancies, and can be used for upgrading ultrasound equipment; creating independent programs for domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking; providing support services for women in institutions of higher learning; allocating funding for early-childhood-education programs for teens to complete high school or receive job training; and providing teen or first-time mothers with free home visits from registered nurses.

Human Trafficking

(3/19/2007) Misuse of immigration documents, false identities and other identity-documentation-related offenses are a felony under state law.

(3/19/2007) Establishes legislative commission to develop and execute state plan for preventing human trafficking.

(3/19/2007) Defines human trafficking as a felony and outlines penalties. Also provides for civil liability, business-entity liability, restitution to victims, and forfeiture of trafficker assets for law violators.

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/12/2007) Stipulates electronic application and technology requirements related to proof of U.S. citizenship or an undocumented-immigrant registration card.

(3/19/2007) Outlines valid documentary evidence of citizenship for driver's-license applicants.

(3/19/2007) Firearms dealers are prohibited from selling licenses to undocumented immigrants.

Miscellaneous

(4/11/07) Creates state commission in the executive branch of state government to conduct cost-benefit analysis on immigration in the state, including the effects on education, healthcare, law enforcement, local service and economic demands, and how this, in turn, affects federal immigration and funding policies.

Washington

Education

(5/15/07) Includes budget allocation for groups contracted by the state immigration and refugee-assistance-services department to work with immigrants.

Employment

(5/8/2007) Revises background-check requirements for the departments of Social and Health Services and Early Learning. Governor vetoed section that would have created a task force to examine the need for and feasibility of verifying citizenship or immigration status of people for whom background checks are required.

Public Benefits

(5/15/07) Provides a $14-million subsidy for facilities that house low-income migrant, seasonal or temporary farm workers.

Resolutions

(4/12/07) Revises work-force training program to include more adult basic-education and English-language courses along with skill training for immigrants.

West Virginia

Employment

(4/3/07) Employers are prohibited from hiring undocumented workers and are required to verify a prospective employee's legal status or work authorization. Those who fail to comply with the law incur penalties ranging from fines and jail sentences to revocation of business licenses.

Public Benefits

(4/3/07) Creates specific categories of immigrants for which exceptions are made ineligible for state public-benefits program.

Wyoming

ID/Driver's Licenses/Other Licenses

(3/8/2007) The use of false identity, citizenship or resident-immigrant documents incurs a penalty and the documents are seized.