Subnational Activism for Immigration Reform: Arizona and SB 1070

Abstract

US Immigration policymaking has been the purview of the federal government. However, there has recently been increasing local activism in immigration-related policymaking, especially at the state level. This research examines several factors related to the triggering mechanism of subfederal activism in immigration policymaking in the US. In doing so, this research employs a mixed methodological approach, triangulating the findings of a multivariable regression analysis that tests the degree of influence of social, economic, demographic, political and safety factors. Those factors may initiate such subfederal activism throughout all 50 states across the US, with an in-depth case study of the State of Arizona. This research ultimately exhibits that no variable can be singled out as a sole cause of state immigration policymaking, and that each state enacting state-specific regulatory immigration law is situated under unique circumstances that may be more prone to the spreading of anti-immigration sentiment than the other.