Two months after the governor vetoed a bill to make illegal border crossings a state crime, Arizona Republicans are trying again. This time, they want to go directly to voters.
House Concurrent Resolution 2060 would make it a state crime to enter Arizona from Mexico at points outside of legal ports of entry, allowing local law enforcement to make arrests. Those convicted would be ordered to leave the country, and judges could dismiss the charge if the person voluntarily agrees to leave.
“We are putting border security policy to the voters,” Senate President Warren Petersen said at a press conference Wednesday. “The voters are going to get the opportunity to decide border security issues and safety for this state. They're going to be able to decide to keep Arizona safe. Doing nothing is not an option.”
Two months ago, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have made illegally crossing the border a state crime. HCR 2060 is a ballot initiative and cannot be vetoed; if it passes the Legislature, it goes directly to voters in November.
“What we have in common on both sides is that we do agree that there is a problem at the border,” state Sen. Catherine Miranda said. “But to create legislation here, when it's the federal government's job to do it, is dangerous, and the unintended consequences are vast.”
Opponents of the measure say it’s a throwback to SB 1070, a controversial immigration law that passed in 2010. Known by many as the “Show Me Your Papers Law,” much of it was eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It worries me that the state is trying to go backwards, back into that era,” said Nicole Morales, a Dreamer and advocate for the Latino community.
But Republican lawmakers say HCR 2060 is strictly a border enforcement measure.
“This is not SB 1070, where you're talking about things happening all over the state,” Petersen said. “This is what is happening at the border.”
Morales noted that the legislation does not spell that out, saying she worries the language is open to interpretation.
“As it's written, it doesn't give me or my community security that, you know, it won't be taken advantage out here in the city,” she said.
Republicans crafted HCR 2060 with input from law enforcement. Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, president of the Arizona Sheriffs Association, said sheriffs see the proposal as a border bill.
“There has to be probable cause that they entered not at an official port of entry,” he said.
Rhodes said that could include eyewitness accounts of people crossing the border, answering 911 calls for search and rescue or technology that indicates people crossed the border.
“I want to be clear to be clear to the public about that,” he said. “This is not license to make 911 calls repeatedly because you see somebody that you think is in the country illegally.”
HCR 2060 was originally a proposed ballot initiative that would have expanded the use of the federal hiring tool E-Verify. The legislation was amended Wednesday as a "strike-everything" amendment.
The new version of the bill also includes provisions that make it a felony to submit false paperwork for public benefits or employment, require state and local agencies to use a federal service to check applicants’ immigration status and stiffen penalties for deadly fentanyl cases.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers both expect HCR 2060 will pass the Legislature, which has Republican majorities in both chambers.
Miranda said this makes the 2024 election very important.
"This is a huge message to the voters right now, that it's important to flip this legislature and repeal all the legislation that has affected our families, that have affected our businesses or agencies,” she said.
