Sheriffs in four Arizona counties along the U.S.-Mexico border have warned of problems enforcing the new law if voters in November pass a bill that would make undocumented immigration a state crime. .
Criticism has ranged from the law being unenforceable due to budget constraints to being “racist,” with negative comments coming from both Democrats and Republicans.
Local sheriffs, like other law enforcement agencies in the state, were thrust into the spotlight shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a controversial law known as Proposition 314 could be put to a vote. It became.
To implement the controversial measure, which gives law enforcement the power to arrest and prosecute suspected violators, the state essentially relies on the resources of counties along the more than 370-mile Arizona-Mexico border. It turns out.
Enforcement of U.S. immigration laws is the responsibility of the federal government, not individual states.
Santa Cruz County, just south of Tucson’s border, is the state’s smallest county but home to the state’s largest port of entry. Santa Cruz Sheriff David Hathaway told the Guardian that he does not support Proposition 314 because it is “a racist enforcement mechanism.”
Of the county’s population of about 49,000, nearly 40,000 people who identify as Hispanic or Latino live under Hathaway’s watch. According to the U.S. Census, more than 78% of county residents speak Spanish at home.
“It would be ridiculous to me to say to almost every person in the county, “Show me your documents, we need to check your immigration status,”” Hathaway, a Democrat, said. Prior to being elected sheriff, he worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency in Nogales.
Meanwhile, in Pima County, home to more than 370,000 people who identify as Hispanic or Latino, Sheriff Chris Nanos said Prop. 314 would “take us down the path of racial profiling.”
But Nanos said that’s not the only reason it won’t go into effect if voters approve. The measure would increase costs associated with arrest, prosecution and incarceration for local enforcement agencies, he added.
“If I book an immigrant into the county jail, I’m paying for it with no funding from the state,” said Nanos, who is running again as a Democratic candidate for Pima County sheriff in November. Ta.
“Who would want to implement this stupid law without any federal funding? But the other caveat I’ve seen over the decades is that the federal government on the border We don’t have enough courts, which means we don’t have enough judges and we don’t have enough lawyers.”
He added, “I’m not going to allow my members to go into the border, arrest people, and put people in jail when the federal government has that responsibility. They did it years ago. They should have solved it. And now they have the opportunity to actually legislate in Washington, D.C., saying, “We need to redo immigration policy.”The problem today is that Washington will never solve it. Don’t do it.”
The Arizona Supervisors Association is responsible for enforcing state law at the local level, including law enforcement and criminal processing costs.
“Congress provided no additional funding for Proposition 314,” said Craig Sullivan, the association’s executive director. “Therefore, if passed, the cost of its implementation would be borne by local taxpayers.”
Prop. 314 could impose additional costs on judicial proceedings, including increased demand for interpreter services.
The measure is similar to a Texas law known as SB4 that allows local police and judges across the Lone Star State to arrest and deport people suspected of entering the country illegally. Immigrant rights groups and the Biden administration have sued Texas to block the law, but the case is pending in a federal appeals court.
In June, advocates in Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging the passage of Proposition 314, saying it violates the civil and human rights of immigrants across the state.
Advocates involved in the lawsuit say Arizona law enforcement has a long history of discriminatory enforcement.
Joe Arpaio, elected sheriff of Maricopa County in 1992, was once known as “America’s toughest sheriff” because of his immigration laws. Arpaio helped turn over tens of thousands of immigrants to federal authorities for deportation. In 2017, he was convicted of contempt of court for defying a federal judicial order to halt notorious immigration patrols and was later pardoned by then-President Donald Trump.
Proposition 314 would require the Arizona Department of Corrections to accept persons arrested or convicted of illegal entry if local enforcement agencies lack the capacity. The department estimates that more than 1,500 people a year could be detained in the prison system as a result of Prop. 314.
The Department of Corrections said in a preliminary study of Prop. 314’s potential fiscal impact that it would “place a significant burden on the day-to-day operations of prisons across an already taxed system.”
Prop. 314 would also make it a state crime to submit false documentation to an employer to avoid detection of employment eligibility under the government’s electronic verification program, and would make it a national crime to submit false documents to an employer to avoid detection of employment eligibility under the government’s electronic verification program, and would make it a national crime to provide fentanyl to an employer if the fentanyl caused the death of another person. The sale of such products is a serious crime.
Given the estimated increase in local government jobs associated with Proposition 314, Arizona’s prison system is projected to reach capacity around June 2027, with an inmate population of 43,000, a preliminary study said. That’s not the case with Arizona’s prison system, he added. We don’t have the people resources to support growth. By 2029, preliminary additional costs expected to accrue to Arizona’s prison system would total approximately $252 million.
Arizona House Speaker Ben Thoma, the bill’s original sponsor, did not respond to requests for an interview and did not comment on how he and other supporters of the new law envision funding for local organizations. He also did not respond to a request for comment on whether he was there.
Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed an earlier similar bill, but the November ballot initiative would override her veto.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment on whether Hobbs would support further funding for border counties if voters pass the measure.
It’s already a federal crime to enter the United States at any place other than an official port of entry, but Arizona lawmakers want to make it a state crime, giving them more power to police immigration.
Most immigrants who enter the country through non-official ports of entry are at the highest risk of immediate deportation if apprehended by U.S. border officials. In Arizona, immigrants often move through remote areas to avoid arrest. Thousands of them died in the desert.
Federal immigration agents apprehended 490,942 undocumented people at the Arizona-Mexico border in fiscal year 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The Biden administration issued new directives in June to curb high levels of immigration into the United States, and unofficial border crossings have dropped significantly in the months since.
“I understand the spirit and intent of Proposition 314, and I believe it will pass because the majority of the residents of this state want the change,” said Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels. ” he said.
But Dannels, a Republican, added: That’s like saying I don’t enforce DUI laws because I don’t believe in them. No, you have to enforce the will of the people. The infrastructure is not in place, so me and the other sheriffs are trying to prepare for this before it passes. We don’t have the funds or the personnel. ”
Meanwhile, in Yuma County, on the western edge of the Arizona-Mexico border, Sheriff Leon Wilmot declined to give an interview to the Guardian. But in the early stages of the bill’s passage through Congress, Wilmot, a Republican, told the local ABC News affiliate: And our county doesn’t have the revenue to handle that. ”
