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 hor­ izontal: 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.