TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Arizona lawmakers are reviving the idea of local law enforcement enforcing immigration law. That was the idea behind the now-repealed law called SB1070. Now the idea is back through a ballot proposition for voters to consider.
Candidates are not the only thing for voters to consider in the November ballot. There is a long list of propositions that have a lot to say about Arizona’s daily life. Prop 314 would make undocumented immigration a state crime to be enforced by local law enforcement.
Republican Arizona state lawmakers used their majority in the Legislature to put Prop 314 on the ballot.
In a Prop 314 debate before the Arizona Clean Elections Commission, State Senator John Kavanagh said:
“The Border Patrol can’t stop them. The wave of immigrants is so massive that the Border Patrol is overwhelmed just processing these people in; documenting and sending them across the country. In between the crossings there’s very little policing, that’s why the worst of the worst, the dangerous people are coming in.”
But people calling for a no vote to reject Prop 314 say if it passes entire communities including citizens and legal residents will live in fear.
Isabel Garcia of Derechos Humanos asks: “And what’s going to happen when they harass me and harass other people? I can’t sue because 314 gives them an exemption and if they’re enforcing 314 they’re not liable for anything.”
Opponents say local law enforcement officers are already stretched thin without Prop 314 adding immigration enforcement to their responsibilities.
Alba Jaramillo of the Immigration Law and Justice Network says, “It's going to place judges in the role of having to decide on immigration law. These are local state judges, and they're not trained on immigration law. That is a role that belongs in immigration courts, not local courts.”
And opponents say if 314 passes Arizona businesses could take a hit from boycotts and from workers who decide to work someplace else.