Everything indicates that there are Republican legislators from Arizona who are following in the footsteps of their colleagues from Texas and Florida, when it comes to presenting measures that criminalize undocumented immigration.
The Arizona legislature is moving forward with the approval of the bill SB1231, also known as the "Arizona Invasion Act," which would make undocumented immigration a state crime and impose lesser charges on all those who cross the border illegally. irregular.
However, those who repeat offenses would be charged with a serious crime.
The bill also gives state and local law enforcement agencies
"immunity" from civil lawsuits
for any harm that may occur while the new legislation is being implemented.
If approved, the Arizona measure would become one of the toughest against undocumented immigration in the United States.
Immigrants wait at the fence that divides the border between the United States and Mexico, near Yuma, Arizona, on August 23, 2022. Associated Press
The Arizona proposal was introduced by Republican state legislators Janae Shamp and Joseph Chaplik.
The initiative follows in the same footsteps of state laws recently approved in Texas and Florida, promoted by Republican governors Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, respectively.
The measure that was approved in Florida, and came into effect on July 1, 2023,
prohibits and declares it illegal for anyone to hire, recruit, or employ an immigrant with irregular status.
In addition, it establishes criminal sanctions (five years in prison and fines of up to $5,000) for immigrants who use false or someone else's documents to get a job, among other provisions.
"I'm not surprised by this [Arizona] proposal. It is a response to the racist sentiment and ignorance we are currently facing," said Isabel García, director of the Human Rights Coalition.
The new legislation has been considered a renewed version of the controversial proposal SB1070, also from Arizona, which was known as the "show me your papers law", passed in the state in 2010.
That measure sparked a legal fight between the state and the federal government that reached the United States Supreme Court.
There,
judges struck down much of the legislation
, but the power the measure gave to state and local law enforcement agencies to question the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country irregularly survived.
["Record" deportations, less spending on education and "shooting" thieves: Trump's campaign promises]
However, the new Arizona proposal (SB1231), as in the case of the measure approved by Texas – which gives state judges the power to deport immigrants without due process – would allow local judges in Arizona to take decisions in immigration cases and
can issue deportation orders
.
García recalled that when the Supreme Court ruled on measure SB1070 it made it clear that only the federal government has the power to apply immigration laws.
The law passed by Texas, which makes it a misdemeanor for a foreigner to "enter or attempt to enter the state from a foreign nation" irregularly, and makes it a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison if it is A repeat offender has been challenged in court.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) leads a group of organizations seeking to prevent the measure from fully taking effect (parts of it have already been applied) on March 5.
"No state has the right to unilaterally decide who can be an American. Doing so violates the Constitution, undermines human rights and harms international relations," David Donatti, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
He warned that the entry into force of the Texas law "will permanently create a separate system of mass immigrant incarceration that is
rife with civil rights abuses
and wastes billions of taxpayer dollars."
García considered that the measures approved by Texas, Florida and the proposal in Nevada follow rhetoric used by conservatives previously.
"We see that once again Republican politicians are using the immigration issue to win elections," he commented.
Arizona state legislator Shamp has defended his proposal SB1231, arguing that making the entry of undocumented immigrants across the border a state crime will help deal with the crisis at the border.
"Yes, we are doing what Texas did because we are trying to secure the border to protect our citizens," he said.
The Republican also said that
he is prepared for the Arizona proposal to be sued
as has happened with the law approved in Texas.
With information from EFE