Reply To: Did the States Cede Control of Immigration to the Federal Government

#20733

John,

Good to hear from you. The States have never “ceded” control over immigration to the central government. It was long considered the purview of the States to handle State citizenship (and strictly so) and the general government had control over “uniform rules of naturalization” but naturalization is not immigration. The general government has just assumed this power, but all of the States, in my opinion, are in their right to restrict who can live and work there.