A New Bill in Arizona Would Require the Governor and the Attorney General to Work Together on Immigration Enforcement

Arizona lawmakers are looking at a bill that would make the governor and attorney general help the federal government with immigration enforcement.

House Bill 2099 would require Arizona’s governor and attorney general to support and follow federal immigration laws and programs.

Rep. Teresa Martinez, who is sponsoring the bill, stated that Governor Katie Hobbs has given mixed messages about immigration and the border. The governor said she won’t assist federal officials with immigration raids, but she does want to collaborate with the Trump administration to address fentanyl trafficking.

“Which one is it?” she asked. “This clearly means that we need to remove all criminals from the state.”

Martinez, a Republican from Legislative District 16, said the bill is focused on public safety.

“Nobody is mentioning grandma.” “No one is suggesting to send grandma away,” she said. “We’re discussing people who have been found guilty and have arrest warrants.” They have warrants for arrest. They have ICE detainers for people who are sexual predators, criminals, and killers.

A House committee approved the plan on a party-line vote on Monday afternoon, and it will now go to the full House for a vote.

Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said they have no opinion on the legislation.

Hobbs’ office usually doesn’t discuss upcoming laws and did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Martinez is optimistic that Hobbs will sign the bill because the governor talked about making the border secure in her State of the State speech.

“We want to give the governor every chance to sign this bill into law,” she said.

In November, Arizona voters strongly approved Proposition 314. This law makes crossing the border without permission a crime in the state and lets local courts issue deportation orders. That part of the law will go into force if a similar law in Texas is confirmed by the courts and becomes active.

“Martinez said that the people of Arizona have clearly expressed their desire for the current administration to focus on public safety.”

Republican lawmakers are considering sending the plan to voters, similar to Prop. 314, she said. After Hobbs rejected a border-crossing bill, the Legislature presented Prop. 314 to voters.

“We will wait,” Martinez said. “If she rejects it, that’s her choice.” After that, we in the Republican Legislature will proceed with our next steps.

Senate President Warren Petersen has suggested a new law called the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation and Enforcement Act. This law would make it mandatory for state and local police to work together with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police must follow federal immigration requests, and bars and jails must keep people who have these requests against them.

SB 1164 would also require state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into deals with ICE to identify and help remove undocumented immigrants who are incarcerated.

Right now, the Arizona Department of Corrections, Mesa Police Department, and sheriff’s offices in La Paz, Pinal, and Yavapai counties have deals with ICE.