PHOENIX — Democratic lawmakers unveiled an immigration bill of their own Monday, while a coalition of progressive groups rallied against Republican legislation to require cooperation with federal immigration agents.
State Sen. Analise Ortiz and State Rep. Mariana Sandoval introduced the Immigrant Trust Act – Senate Bill 1362 and the mirror House Bill 2807 – which aims to protect people without legal status who are living in Arizona.
“No one should fear that living their normal, everyday life could lead to deportation,” said Ortiz, a Democrat who represents District 24.
The legislation, which has dim prospects in Arizona’s Republican-led Legislature, would prohibit state and local law enforcement from stopping, questioning, searching, arresting or detaining people over citizenship, as well as bar cooperation with federal immigration authorities and prevent municipalities and heath care facilities from sharing information about a person’s immigration status.
State Sen. Catherine Miranda, D-District 11, said the proposal would “ensure Arizona's immigrant communities feel comfortable seeking medical assistance, reporting crimes and completing their day-to-day activities without fear of deportation.”
Democrats proposed their bills in response to Senate Bill 1164, otherwise known as the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act.
“Passing legislation that criminalizes our immigrant community for simply existing is unacceptable,” Ortiz said. “It's inhumane, and it is not who we should be as a state.”
A coalition of progressive groups rallied against the Republican bill Monday afternoon, marching around the Arizona Capitol.
The Republican-sponsored SB 1164 would require law enforcement to sign agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and comply with immigration retainers. Prisons and jails would also be required to hold people with retainers.
“We are a nation of laws, and enforcing the immigration law is every government employee’s responsibility,” said State Sen. John Kavanagh, the Republican senator from District 3.
The measure was slated to be heard Monday by a Senate panel, but the bill’s sponsor, Senate President Warren Petersen, is still working on the legislation.
Kavanagh said the state needs the Arizona ICE Act.
“People who break our immigration laws need to be brought to justice, have their hearing and then either stay or be deported,” he said. “That's the law, and without a law like that, you might as well have no border.”
State lawmakers are also considering a separate measure to force Arizona's governor and attorney general to assist the federal government with immigration enforcement.
Republicans have majorities in both the Arizona House and Senate, and the GOP’s committee chairs decide which bills move forward.
Ortiz said her bill deserves a hearing.
“The Immigrant Trust Act should get a fair shake because people who are in our country without documentation are contributing members to our society,” she said, adding that Republican-sponsored immigration bills will also affect U.S. citizens, who may face racial profiling.
Kavanagh said the bill has “no chance” of advancing, saying voters sent a clear measure when they passed Prop. 314, a ballot measure making crossing the border with authorization a state crime.
Voters, he said, want undocumented immigrants deported.
"To the extent that my Democrat colleagues want to go publicly state they don't want that – fine,” he said. “See you next Election Day.”
