Arizona’s Democratic governor vetoes border bill approved by Republican-led Legislature
PHOENIX — An Arizona bill that would make it a crime for non-residents to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than the port of entry has been vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure along party lines late last month. Arizona has emerged as a popular illegal border crossing, and the bill would have allowed local law enforcement to arrest non-U.S. citizens who enter Arizona from anywhere other than a lawful entry point. An infraction would be a top-level misdemeanor – or a low-level misdemeanor for a second offense.
In a letter to Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, Hobbs said the measure raised constitutional concerns and was expected to lead to costly litigation.
“This bill does not secure our border, will harm communities and businesses across our state, and burdens law enforcement personnel and the state’s justice system,” Hobbs wrote.
The move comes as Republicans in several states, most notably Texas, are pushing strong immigration policies ahead of this year’s presidential elections.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Janae Shamp, said in a statement that the veto “is a prime example of the chaos Hobbs is unleashing in our state as he perpetuates this open border crisis as Biden’s accomplice.”
Federal law already prohibits the unauthorized entry of migrants into the United States. However, Republicans in Arizona and Texas say the U.S. government is not doing enough and they need additional state powers.
This isn’t the first time Republican lawmakers in Arizona have tried to criminalize immigrants who aren’t authorized to stay in the country.
In passing the landmark 2010 immigration law, the Arizona Legislature considered expanding the state’s trespass law to criminalize the presence of immigrants and imposed criminal penalties.
But the cross-border language was removed and replaced with a requirement that officers, while enforcing other laws, question people’s immigration status if they are believed to be in the country illegally.
The interrogation requirement was ultimately upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court despite critics’ concerns about racial profiling, but courts barred enforcement of other parts of the law.
The law sparked a national fury, with supporters calling for similar legislation for their own states and opponents calling for an economic boycott of Arizona.
Several other Arizona immigration laws have been struck down by courts over the years.
Another proposal at the Legislature this year would bypass any potential Hobbs veto by sending the measure directly to voters to decide as a ballot measure.
The proposal would require municipalities and counties that receive state money for welfare programs to use a federal employment verification database to check whether recipients are legally in the U.S. — and if so, the recipients would be removed from the program.
It would also make it a low-level crime for employers, who are already required by a previous Arizona law to use the database when hiring new employees, to refuse to carry out their legal duty to use the database if they know that an employee is not. legal in the country.
The proposal has already passed the state House. The Arizona Senate has not yet taken action on the proposal.