Arizona lawmakers are considering a bill that would require the governor and attorney general to assist the federal government with immigration enforcement.
House Bill 2099 would direct Arizona’s governor and attorney general to "enforce, administer and cooperate” with federal immigration actions, orders and programs.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Teresa Martinez, said Gov. Katie Hobbs has made conflicting remarks about immigration and the border. The governor has said she won’t help federal authorities with immigration raids but has also said she wants to work with the Trump administration on fentanyl trafficking.
“So which is it?” she said. “And so this just basically says, to make it very clear ... we need to deport all the criminal elements out of the state.”
Martinez, a Republican who represents Legislative District 16, said the measure is about public safety.
“Nobody's talking about abuela. Nobody's talking about sending grandma off,” she said. “We're talking about people who have been convicted, with arrest warrants. They have arrest warrants. They have ICE detainers, who are sexual predators, who are criminals, who are murderers.”
A House panel advanced the proposal on a party-line vote Monday afternoon, and the measure now heads to the full House for a vote.
Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said it did not have a comment on the legislation.
Hobbs’ office, which generally does not talk about pending legislation, did not return a request for comment Monday.
Martinez said she is hopeful Hobbs signs the bill, based on the governor’s comments in her State of the State address about securing the border.
"We want to make sure that the governor has every opportunity to sign this bill into law,” she said.
In November, Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 314, which would make crossing the border without authorization a state crime and allow local judges to issue deportation orders. That portion of the measure will take effect if a similar law in Texas is upheld by the courts and takes effect.
"The Arizona public has made it clear that they want to have public security addressed in this administration," Martinez said.
Republican lawmakers have discussed the possibility of sending the proposal to voters, like Prop. 314, she said. The Legislature sent Prop. 314 to voters after Hobbs vetoed a border-crossing bill.
“We're going to wait,” Martinez said. “And you know, if she vetoes it, that's on her. And then we, the Republican Legislature, will go ahead and start what we do next.”
Senate President Warren Petersen has also proposed legislation – the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act – that would require state and local law enforcement cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Law enforcement agencies would be required to comply with federal immigration retainers, and prisons and jails would need to house people with detainers.
SB 1164 would also require state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with ICE to identify and help remove undocumented immigrants who are incarcerated.
Currently, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Mesa Police Department and sheriff’s offices in La Paz, Pinal and Yavapai counties have such agreements with ICE.
