Arizona Senate Advances “Secure the Border Act” to November Ballot

After four hours of often heated debate, the Arizona Senate on Wednesday passed a Republican-backed resolution allowing voters to decide in November whether law enforcement agents can arrest illegal border crossers.

The “Secure the Border Act,” one of the strongest immigration legislation in the country, is now headed to the Republican-controlled House. The House is anticipated to take up the resolution HCR2060 when it returns to session on June 4. A legislative referral to the November ballot does not need the governor’s consent.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs stated after the Senate voting that the resolution “will kill jobs, hurt businesses, and prevent law enforcement from stopping dangerous crimes.”

Arizona’s prisons chief has warned that the proposal will result in new jail expenses of approximately $250 million over five years.

The ballot initiative would allow Arizona law enforcement personnel to arrest unauthorized immigrants who enter the state between ports of entry.

That authority is now with the federal government. The resolution would also make unlawful entry a state crime.

The resolution would also increase the penalty for a death caused by a fentanyl supplier and tighten immigration screening criteria for job seekers and those seeking government benefits.

The proposal was halted last week after Republican Sen. Ken Bennett of Prescott opposed an amendment that would have subjected DACA recipients to arrest.

That modification was withdrawn, and more detailed wording defining “probable cause” for arrest was added.

During the acrimonious debate, Republican lawmakers eloquently conveyed the images and consequences of unprecedented numbers of migrants crossing the border.

“You don’t let people who sneak in the back door take over your country,” said Republican Senator John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills.

In 2010, Kavanagh sponsored SB1070, sometimes known as the “Show Me Your Papers” law, which was the strictest immigration regulation in the US at the time.

Many Democratic politicians were personally affected by the proposal, which involved racial profiling.

“The proposal is the accumulation of all the hate and ignorance of years of multiple failed immigration proposals,” said Democratic Sen. Juan Mendez of Arizona. The emotions were so intense that Republican Senate President Warren Petersen cleared the Senate gallery of opponents yelling, “Stop the hate.”

“You have no self-control,” Petersen repeatedly told the demonstrators. If the ballot proposal passes in November, it will be “voter-protected” legislation, which legislators may only modify with a three-quarters supermajority vote.

However, even with voter support, the initiative’s future remains questionable.

Arizona’s “Secure the Border Act” is modeled after Texas’ SB4, which is currently pending in the courts. The Arizona bill would not go into effect until the Texas law was cleared by the courts.

A review by the United States Supreme Court is highly likely.

To sustain the Texas statute, the Supreme Court would have to overturn a 2012 decision that invalidated much of Arizona’s SB1070.