The Right of Refusal: Immigration Enforcement and the New Cooperative Federalism

Abstract

In recent years, immigration enforcement has provoked conflicts among almost every level and branch of American government. Some disputes are horizontal: between the President and Congress, governors and state legislatures, sheriffs and boards of supervisors. Others are vertical: between states and federal agencies, the President and governors, states and localities. Many of the constitutional questions posed by these conflicts have entered the courts and spawned large academic literatures. But at least one has not: federal power to enlist state and local aid.