Arizona’s Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a Republican-backed bill that would have made it a crime to cross the Arizona-Mexico border, claiming it failed to secure the border, while calling it harmful.
The bill, known as the Border Invasion Act, would have allowed Arizona law enforcement to arrest, jail and deport those crossing the border illegally, coming into the state from any location other than a Port of Entry (POE). Hobbs said the bill had “significant” constitutionality concerns for her and would certainly “mire the state in costly and protracted litigation,” according to the New York Post. However, she gave no examples of the cited constitutionality concerns.
First times offenders would have received six months behind bars unless they opted to leave the U.S. voluntarily. It would have also allowed Arizona judges to order deportations and state law enforcement to enforce the law.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Janae Shamp, said Hobb’s veto was a “prime example of the chaos Hobbs is unleashing in our state while perpetuating this open border crisis as Biden’s accomplice” according to the Associated Press (AP).
Hobbs has insisted the state is powerless to do much when it comes to federal issues such as immigration, as reported by the Arizona Star.
Federal law already specifies immigrants crossing the border anywhere other than a POE are committing a crime. Lawmakers in Arizona and Texas, as well as citizens have criticized the Biden Administration for not doing enough to enforce current immigration law.
However, another piece of legislation surrounding illegal immigrants would bypass the governor’s veto pen and move from the legislature to the ballot come November should it pass th state senate. HCR-2060 would require municipalities and counties to verify if those receiving state monies from public welfare programs are in the U.S. lawfully before dispersing the monies. If they are not in the country legally, they would be removed from the program. It would be delayed until 2026 to begin.
Robyn Spradlin is a freelance journalist working as a contributor for Christian News Journal covering news and politics on the national and state levels. She has worked as a copywriter for Victory News on the Victory Channel since 2022. Robyn has a BA in Communication Studies and an MA in Journalism from Regent University and is a member of the Evangelical Press Association. She is an author, evangelistic minister and a musician. She lives in South Florida, where she enjoys the outdoors when she’s not writing.