Arizona citizens will determine if local authorities may detain people who cross across US from Mexico. US from Mexico

By JACQUES BILLEAUD ANITA A. SNOW

04/06/2024

PHOENIX (AP) — The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature gave final approval Tuesday to a proposal asking voters to make it a state crime for noncitizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry, sending the measure to the Nov. 5 ballot.

The vote came at the same time that the president Joe Biden unveiled plans Tuesday to reduce the number of people looking for refugee status on border crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, stating “This action will help to gain control of our border, restore order to the process.”

Arizona’s proposed legislation, which was ratified on a 31-29 margin by the state House and Senate, will allow local and state police to stop people who are crossing into the country without permission. The proposal also gives state judges the authority to require those who are found guilty of a crime to be returned to their countries of their origin.

The plan does not include Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who had previously vetoed similar legislation in March. She has been critical of the effort to present the issue to the attention of voters.

Hobbs expressed his displeasure at the bill’s passing, saying, “Extremists in the Legislature have chosen to prioritize their political agendas over finding real solutions.”

The law, she said “will harm Arizona companies, force jobs out of the state and make it harder for law enforcement agencies to complete their work, and eat up the budget of the state. The legislation will not protect our borders.”

House Republicans shut down their upper galleries just before the session began on Tuesday due to concerns over security and the possibility of disruptions. The decision immediately attracted the ire of Democrats who demanded the gallery be opened.

House members voted on the party lines and all Republicans supporting the plan, with the majority of Democrats voting against the proposal.

People who support the bill say it was essential to provide security along Arizona’s southern border and said Arizona voters should have the chance to vote on the matter for themselves.

“When the federal government fails, the state has to step in,” said state Rep. Timothy Dunn, who is a Republican who was born within Yuma, Arizona, near the border with Mexico.

Opponents argued that the law is illegal and claimed it could result in racial profiling and generate million dollars of additional police cost that Arizona cities counties, states and cities can not afford.

State Rep. Analise Ortiz, a Democrat with a family history that has been within the United States for generations, claimed that under the law “My brown skin could allow a police officer to pull me over on suspicions in the state where I was born.”

The legislation will be presented to the voters of a state that is expected to play an important factor in determining which political party has control of both the White House and the U.S. Senate — which could result in extremely close elections in Arizona. Republicans are hoping it will bring on the border and border security, which they claim Biden of not handling properly and weaken the political advantages Democrats want from a planned abortion-rights bill.

The border issue is one of the main reasons for Republican voters, who the former president Donald Trump hopes will vote in huge numbers. Immigration is also a major concern for trained suburban residents who left Trump’s GOP during the presidency of Trump and helped fuel the Democrats rising in Arizona.

The proposed law is identical to an Texas law that was placed on hold by an appeals court of the Federal Court in the midst of a legal challenge.

Although federal law already prohibits immigrants from entering illegally to in the U.S., proponents of the law say it’s necessary since the federal government has not done enough to prevent individuals from illegally crossing the border of Arizona, which is a porous and vast area with Mexico. They also claimed that some individuals who travel to Arizona without authorization are guilty of identity theft and avail of the public benefits.

Opponents of the plan say it will burden Arizona with new charges of law enforcement officials that have no prior experience in immigration law as well as tarnish Arizona’s standing as a business state.

Proponents of the measure say it is focused on only the border region of the state and, unlike Arizona’s landmark immigration law, it does not target individuals across the state. Some critics say the measure does not contain geographic restrictions in the enforcement.

The ballot measure also contains features that aren’t in the Texas measure, and don’t directly relate to immigration. It’s an offense punishable by as long as 10 years of prison for selling fentanyl, which causes death for a person as well as the requirement that certain government agencies make use of an official database that can verify whether a person is eligible for benefits as a non-citizen.

Beware of the potential legal cost in Arizona, critics cited the immigrant smuggling law, which was enacted in 2005 by the then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to carry out 20 massive traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. The result was an racial discrimination verdict in 2013 as well as taxpayer-funded legal and compliance costs, which now total $265 million. They are projected to grow to $314 million in the summer of 2025.

In the current version the first time conviction under the border crossing provisions is a misdemeanor that can be punished by up to 6 months in prison. Judges from the state could require individuals returned to their country of origin following the completion of an incarceration period however, the judges would be able to dismiss cases if the people who were detained agreed to return to their homes.

The bill requires the corrections department to arrest those who are charged or convicted under the law, even if local or law enforcement agencies of counties aren’t able to house the inmates.

The proposal also includes a few exceptions to those granted lawful-presence status or asylum status by the Federal government.

This isn’t the only time Republican legislators in Arizona have attempted to make criminal the movement of people.

When it passed its immigration bill that was passed in 2010, the Arizona Legislature was considering increasing the scope of Arizona’s trespassing laws to make illegal the presence of immigrants and to impose penalties for illegal entry. However, the language governing trespassing was removed and replaced by the requirement that police officers, when applying other laws, ask individuals’ immigration status in the event that they are believed to be illegally in the country.

The requirement to question was accepted in the U.S. Supreme Court despite the concerns over racial discrimination raised by the critics, but courts ruled against the enforcement of other provisions that the law.

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Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper was a reporter for the Associated Press.