New White Paper ‘Deporting Local Democracy’ Explores Immigration Preemption Trends

Immigration is one of the central issues in the 2024 election: While Kamala Harris vows a crack down on smuggling and human trafficking, Donald Trump is promising “mass deportations.” Despite the heated rhetoric on the campaign trail, there’s real - and often troubling - policy developments occurring in states. For nearly a decade, states across the country have been passing “anti-sanctuary” legislation aimed at conscripting local officials to become partners for federal immigration authorities. In 2024, however, states are turning local officials into immigration agents directly. The anti-immigration preemption bills don’t just circumvent the federal government - they also hoist a slew of new responsibilities, processes, and costs onto local governments and local law enforcement officials – tasking them with immigration measures which simply go beyond the resources or training of most localities. 

Rick Su, Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, has written a new white paper for LSSC that charts the growth and evolution of immigration-related preemption measures in recent years. 

Su’s white paper, Deporting Local Democracy: How State Deportation Laws Undermine Local Communities, charts:

• The connection between new deportation laws and state immigration laws more generally; specifically anti-sanctuary policies;

• How these new state deportation laws exceed previous efforts to preempt local sanctuary and immigration policies; and

• Explores how these new preemptive measures aren’t just limited to immigration - but are part of a broader attack on localities (specifically, cities) and immigrants. 

If you’d like to speak with Rick Su or others about how preemption is being used to harm immigrants and undermine local authority, please reach out to media@supportdemocracy.org.