(RepublicanPress.org) – Immigration has been a hot topic this election season, with GOP lawmakers calling on President Joe Biden to close the border. They claim the Biden administration has left the southern border wide open for anyone to enter. Meanwhile, legislation was stopped in Congress aimed at solving the issues but was blocked at the behest of the former president. Now, it seems Arizona is making a move of its own on the matter.
On June 4, the Arizona House voted to pass House Concurrent Resolution 2060, which puts a measure on the ballot to let voters decide if local law enforcement should be able to arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the border. The ballot initiative would also allow local judges to deport individuals.
HCR 2060 passed along party lines by a vote of 31 to 29 in favor. A similar bill passed the Arizona Senate by a vote of 16 to 13. Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R) said the move was necessary to keep Arizonians safe. He said, “Nothing good comes from open borders.”
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs disagreed with the resolution, stating that HCR 2060 would hurt businesses in the state, make it harder for police to do their jobs, and negatively affect Arizona’s economy. She also said it would do nothing to “secure [the] border.” Hobbs said there was “strong opposition” to the resolution, but the “extremists in the legislature” pushed it through anyway. The ACLU of Arizona claimed the measure could increase incidents of “racial profiling, harassment, and arrest of long-time Arizona residents.”
The group Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) already filed suit against HCR 2060 to keep it off the November ballot. The suit alleges that the legislation violates the state’s single-subject rule, which prohibits bills from covering disjointed subjects. LUCHA Attorney Jim Barton accused legislators of tucking “unpopular measures” inside a popular proposition to make them law.
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