Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have granted local law enforcement the authority to arrest illegal border crossers, closely resembling a law recently passed in Texas, which the state went to federal court to defend.
Senate Bill 1231, named the Arizona Border Invasion Act, would have classified any re-entry of an illegal immigrant after deportation as a felony, and it would have levied felony charges against any immigrant who has been ordered to leave the state but refused to comply. It would have also made it a misdemeanor crime to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border at any location other than an established port of entry.
In a video the Arizona Governor shared on X, she stated, “Anti-immigrant legislation to score cheap political points has no place in our state. SB1231 does not secure our border. Instead, it demonizes our communities, hurts businesses and farmers, and burdens law enforcement and our judicial system.”
Leveling with frustrated constituents, Governor Hobbs added, “I know there’s frustration about the federal government’s failure to secure our border, but this bill is not the solution.”
The governor additionally cited Constitutional concerns regarding which enforcement body has the authority to police illegal immigration, as the federal government has recently dragged Texas state officials through a slew of litigation regarding a similar law, and jurisdiction disputes.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a similar bill, SB 4, into law in December 2023, allowing state law enforcement to arrest and jail illegal border crossers. This action was quickly met with a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which claimed that the law is “preempted by federal law and violates the U.S. Constitution.” Earlier this week, however, a federal appeals court sided with Texas, allowing the law to take effect on March 9, barring any intervention from the Supreme Court of the United States.
The federal government recently admitted to using taxpayer funds to secretly fly more than 320,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. Attorneys working for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) then refused to reveal the destinations of the flights, claiming that transparency would cause national security “vulnerabilities.”
The lack of enforcement at the federal level has led to several states assessing what actions can be taken to curb illegal immigration at a local level.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
