With the Help of a Vote Measure, Arizona is Getting Closer to Making Illegal Immigration a State Crime

On Tuesday, lawmakers in Arizona passed a ballot measure that will let people decide if making illegal immigration a state crime should be put on the ballot.

The so-called “Secure the Border Act” would make it illegal to enter Arizona from Mexico. This would let local police arrest and jail migrants who are thought to have crossed the border between ports of entry, and if they were found guilty, state courts could send them back to Mexico.

The measure passed Arizona’s Republican-controlled Legislature with only one vote against it. It will be on the ballot in November, when Joe Biden will run against Donald Trump in the key swing state.

In a statement, Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma said, “Open borders don’t lead to anything good.” “Only crime, dangerous drugs, violence, unsafe neighborhoods, and a never-ending drain on taxpayers’ money.” Still, Democratic leaders are strongly against doing anything about it.

They’ve had enough and want things to change. They want safe neighborhoods and a safe border. “Republicans in the House do too,” he said.

“That’s why we wrote HCR 2060, the Secure the Border Act, a ballot initiative with real changes to safeguard the honesty of Arizona’s workers, make criminal laws stronger, and boost the state’s rule of law.” The last vote on this bill today means that it will be on the November ballot in Arizona, so the voters’ will be respected.

In March, Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs killed a bill that was similar.

To get around another likely Hobbs veto, Republicans in the statehouse used a rule that lets them put the measure straight on the ballot.

The governor spoke out against HCR 2060 last month, after it was passed by the state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans. He said it would “kill jobs, hurt businesses, and stop law enforcement from stopping dangerous crimes.”

Hobbs said in a statement, “Business leaders, border law enforcement, and bipartisan local leaders across the state who are against this bill know it will not make us safer; instead it will make our communities look bad and lead to racial profiling.”

According to figures from Customs and Border Protection, more than 412,000 people have been caught crossing between ports of entry illegally in Arizona’s Yuma and Tucson sectors so far this fiscal year.

In fiscal year 2024, there were 373,000 contacts in the Tucson sector, which is more than in any of the eight other sectors that Border Patrol agents watched.

The Biden administration has sued Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma to stop the enforcement of laws similar to the Arizona measure. They say the laws are unconstitutional because they take away the federal government’s sole power to control the entry and reentry of noncitizens into the US.

The ballot measure passed on the same day that Biden, who is 81 years old, announced an executive order that will close the US-Mexico border if more than 2,500 people cross illegally every day for seven days in a row. The restrictions will be lifted two weeks later, after an average of 1,500 people cross every day for seven days.

A RealClearPolitics average of polls shows that Trump, 77, is four percentage points ahead of Biden in Arizona.