PHOENIX — Arizona’s Republican-controlled state legislature passed a bill Tuesday to send a controversial immigration policy to voters in November, putting the border on the ballot alongside President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — with uncertain consequences for the presidential race and other fall campaigns.
Republicans hope this will galvanize conservative turnout in November. But Democrats’ characterization of the bill as a resurrection of the controversial 2010 anti-illegal immigration legislation could also push Latino turnout in favor of Democrats in the general election.
HCR 2060, or “Secure The Border Act,” will allow Arizonans to decide whether the state should strengthen its use of E-Verify, a federal database for verifying employment eligibility; demand tougher sanctions for fentanyl traffickers; and, in its most controversial provision, giving state and local authorities the ability to detain and deport people who cross the border without documents, despite court rulings saying that power belongs to the federal government.
GOP lawmakers are using a provision that allows them to bypass Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who opposes the policy and vetoed similar legislation in March, and present the policy to voters. In a statement Tuesday, Hobbs rooted her opposition in both the economic impact of the new E-Verify requirements and the potential for racial discrimination.
“The bipartisan business leaders, border officials, and local leaders across the state who oppose this bill know it will not make us safer; instead, it will demonize our communities and lead to racial profiling,” Hobbs said after the legislation passed the Arizona State Senate. .
The measure is virtually guaranteed to face legal challenges if Arizona voters approve it this fall. The measure was inspired by a Texas law, which is stuck in the courts. HCR 2060’s state and local law enforcement powers cannot take effect until at least 60 days after the Texas law is upheld.
In addition to the practical effects of politics, the measure places one of the main issues facing voters in the Arizona election campaign in a new way, alongside the candidates and their platforms. Immigration was practically linked to inflation and the cost of living among the main issues in NBC News’ April national survey, continuing a recent trend. On Tuesday, Biden signed an executive order temporarily halting asylum applications at the southern border as he faces pressure from voters and Trump on the issue.
Republican state Rep. Alex Kolodin, a vocal supporter of the measure in the state House, said immigration is “something my constituents are very passionate about,” but added, “I think my constituents will probably vote either way.”
Democratic state Sen. Flavio Bravo, who represents one of Arizona’s most racially diverse districts, is cynical about Republican intentions in introducing HCR 2060.
“This new slate of Republicans knows it will help their elections,” Bravo said.
“I don’t believe they are anti-immigrant, I don’t believe they care much about this. They just want to end the session quickly, prepare something and pray for a victory in November,” said Bravo, grandson of a Mexican copper miner.
Opponents of HCR 2060 have already begun to mobilize against it.
“We’re going to be knocking on the doors of communities, reminding them to vote, letting them know who’s with us and who’s not,” said Alejandra Gomez, executive director of the grassroots civil rights organization Living United For Change In Arizona, commonly known as LUCHA.
“LUCHA will be in eight counties – Maricopa County, Pima County and rural communities” campaigning against the measure, Gomez promised. In addition to knocking on doors and doing phone banking in English and Spanish, the organization distributes its own newspaper, the “LUCHA Times,” to reach older Arizonans while also spreading its message across networks. to rally support from young people.
While conventional wisdom might suggest that a vote on immigration would increase Republican turnout, Brian Murray, a political strategist for the Arizona Republican Party, says who exactly will benefit most is unclear five months from Election Day.
“I think there’s an opportunity for soft Republican women to use this as a messaging device to keep them in the Republican camp,” Murray said. But he also said he thinks “it’s an opportunity for LUCHA and some of the grassroots Democratic organizations to really get out there and organize their vote among voters who probably won’t vote before.”
Jenny Valdovinos, 22, is a Latina graphic designer from Phoenix who ventured to the state capitol in May to protest HCR 2060 while it was making its way through the legislature.
“I’m Mexican-American, so I know people who have been affected by things like this, and it’s disgusting,” Valdovinos said, referring to a 2010 law that led to racial profiling in the state.
Valdovinos believes the ballot measure will get young Latinos like her to the polls in November. “More and more young people are getting involved, a lot of progressive young people,” she said. “We just need to spread the word.”
She also plans to vote in favor of abortion rights if a citizen-backed initiative, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, reaches the ballot. But when it comes to the top of the ticket, Valdovinos says she doesn’t know who she’s going to support.
“Biden didn’t really do as much or deliver as much as he said he would,” said Valdovinos, who voted for the president in his first eligible election in 2020.
“He hasn’t said or done much about Palestine,” she said as one of the reasons Biden has lost the shine in her eyes, along with the president’s green light on a sprawling oil drilling project in Alaska.
GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake, the presumptive Republican nominee in one of the nation’s biggest races, applauded the passage of HCR 2060. “Arizonans are crying out for common-sense safety measures,” Lake said in a statement to NBC News. “I’m encouraged that Arizona’s Republican state legislators are doing their best to get it done – even if they have to bypass Hobbs’ veto to do it,” Lake added.
Lake’s competitor, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, issued his own statement referencing Arizona’s controversial 2010 immigration law, SB 1070.
“Politicians are refusing to solve our border crisis and dragging us back to a horrible time,” Gallego said in a statement to NBC News, adding: “To truly secure our border and keep Arizonans safe, we need to hire more border patrols. agents, deliver crucial resources to our frontline border communities, and fix our broken asylum system. This bill does none of that.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
