Arizonans will vote in November on a statewide ballot measure to determine whether state police should have the authority to arrest people who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the state legislature decided Tuesday.
The Republican Party-backed ballot measure aims to override a veto in a similar bill from Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) in March. The state Senate approved the proposal on a party-line 16-13 vote last month, and the House approved it by an even closer 31-29 margin on Tuesday.
“I am an immigrant. This is not anti-immigrant. This is anti-illegality,” House Speaker Ben Toma (R) said on the floor Tuesday, casting the final “yes” vote. “This is about protecting our border because the federal government has failed to do its job. The people of Arizona will have the final say in this matter. And I’m proud to send it to them.”
Texas was the first state to pass a bill allowing state police to make border arrests earlier this year. This law marks a major change in immigration enforcement and has not taken effect pending legal challenges.
Arizona law also allows state judges to order deportations. Under the proposal, a first-time conviction under the border crossing clause would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison.
Hobbs warned in his previous veto of a similar measure that it could cause significant legal costs for the state and predicted it could be ruled unconstitutional by the courts.
“This bill does not protect our border, will be harmful to our state’s communities and businesses, and burdensome to law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system,” Hobbs wrote in his March veto statement.
Federal law already prohibits the unauthorized entry of migrants into the United States. However, Republicans in Arizona and Texas say the US government is not doing enough and that they need additional state powers.
Critics, including Hobbs, have warned that the proposal could increase racial profiling in the state and harken back to Arizona’s controversial 2010 immigration law, which allowed police to interrogate people suspected of being in the country illegally. This law was later reduced by the Supreme Court for infringing on the jurisdiction of the federal government.
“The business leaders, border law enforcement officials, and bipartisan 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 discrimination,” Hobbs said in a statement last month.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
