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    • Border proposal passes easily, but won’t take effect immediately
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    Border proposal passes easily, but won’t take effect immediately

    Umito Posted on

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    Proposition 314, the legislative ballot measure that would criminalize unauthorized border crossings and allow Arizona and local law enforcement to arrest and deport migrants, passed easily as the count Current votes continued to strengthen a considerable “Yes” lead.

    But arrests and prosecutions under the new state crimes established by the ballot measure are unlikely to begin anytime soon.

    Even after the election results become official, Proposition 314’s language prohibits its immediate implementation while U.S. federal courts determine whether states can enforce immigration laws. This question could end up before the Supreme Court.

    Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen told The Arizona Republic that Republican Donald Trump’s re-election has reduced the immediate need for state laws like those Arizona voters overwhelmingly supported in the framework of Proposition 314.

    “Now with the new president, it doesn’t matter anymore because we now have the federal government that is going to enforce the law,” Petersen said. “As long as the federal government is enforcing the law, we don’t need the state government to be devoting resources to this.

    Although Arizona’s election results are not yet final, voters appear poised to approve Proposition 314, also known as the Secure the Border Act, by a margin of two to one.

    In addition to criminalizing railroad crossings and allowing local police to arrest migrants, the ballot measure also requires verification of immigration status to access public benefits and toughens penalties for smuggling fentanyl resulting in the death of another person.

    The immigration enforcement provisions of Proposition 314 are based on Texas Senate Bill 4, and the two share similar language. But the latter cannot take effect from the 5thth The New Orleans Court of Appeals is determining whether the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

    The US Department of Justice sued Texas in Januaryasserting that the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction to enforce immigration laws. But under a Trump administration, the DOJ could modify or drop its legal challenge, paving the way for laws like Proposition 314 to take effect.

    Petersen said he added language that allows Proposition 314 to take effect only if federal courts approve Texas Senate Bill 4 to ensure its constitutionality. But the Senate president added that lawmakers would have had to wait two more years before getting another chance to pass a measure, so this was their window of opportunity.

    “We now have this tool in case we need it, if the federal government ever fails to follow the law,” he said. “Now we have something to fall back on where we can protect our citizens.”

    Arizona voters shift to the right on immigration and border

    The wide margin by which Proposition 314 passed indicates a rightward shift on immigration among Arizona voters. It reflects national attitudes that culminated in the re-election of Trump, who made immigration and borders a central issue of his campaign.

    The “yes” vote maintained a healthy lead in nearly all of Arizona’s 15 counties, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state.

    But others attribute the ballot language to “misleading and misguided” as well as the a large number of races and proposals on the ballot for helping to approve the ballot question.

    Notice: Republicans strengthen their hold on Arizona. What does this mean for you

    Reyna Montoya, founder and CEO of Aliento, a group that helps undocumented and mixed-status families in Arizona, said those two things make it harder to fight the measure. Aliento called or knocked on the doors of more than 50,000 voters during the campaign cycle in hopes of convincing them to vote against Proposition 314.

    “The most emphasized part of the description was about border security and fentanyl, sort of drawing a correlation that undocumented immigrants are the ones responsible for the fentanyl crisis, which is disheartening,” Montoya said.

    Most fentanyl entering the United States is smuggled in by American citizens passing through Arizona ports of entry, according to federal data.

    Critics vow to defend immigrant communities

    Opponents of Proposition 314 argued that allowing state and local law enforcement to arrest and deport migrants in Arizona would increase distrust between immigrants and police, create the potential for racial profiling and cost millions to taxpayers to detain, imprison and deport migrants.

    “Proposition 314 will not fix the flaws in our immigration system, nor will it ‘secure the border’ as its supporters have portrayed it to be,” said Noah Schramm, border policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union. Arizona. The group said it was considering all legal options.

    The Phoenix-based community group Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, knocked on more than 612,000 Latino voters’ doors this election cycle. Executive Director Alejandra Gomez called the approval of Proposition 314 a dark moment for Arizona.

    If implemented, the ballot measure “would result in racial profiling, family separations and a climate of fear targeting Arizona’s Latino and immigrant families,” Gomez said. “Our communities and our economy will suffer. Immigrant-owned small businesses, the cornerstone of Arizona’s economy, could be crushed.”

    Greisa Martinez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream, an advocacy group for young undocumented immigrants and deferred action recipients, said the ballot measure aims to make immigrants feel unsafe in communities in which they grew up and live.

    “This is about making our neighborhoods zones of harassment and intimidation, where our communities and neighbors could be arrested, questioned and deported,” she said. “Whatever the circumstances, our people refuse to be dragged into the shadows.”

    Montoya said that regardless of the results and if Proposition 314 goes into effect, Aliento will continue its work on behalf of undocumented and mixed-status families.

    “We might have lost a battle,” she said. “But we will continue to move forward until we build a state that continues to honor the contributions of immigrants.”

    Umito
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