Key part of Arizona border-security ballot measure now moot, Senate leader says

The Republican legislative leader said Wednesday the whole purpose behind the ballot measure was to allow state and local police to do the job he claims the federal government was not adequately doing: arresting people who enter the country at other than a port of entry.

“We literally mirrored federal law,’’ he told Capitol Media Services of the proposition, which the GOP-controlled Legislature sent to the ballot. “The difference is Biden was not enforcing the law. Trump is going to enforce the law.”

Border agents logged 1.5 million arrests of migrants who crossed the border outside of official ports of entry on the entire border in the last fiscal year, a 25% drop from the year before, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has reported.

Petersen said there are plenty of other crimes to keep the Arizona Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement busy. Plus, if local police are not arresting migrants, there’s no need for Arizonans to pick up the costs of incarcerating them, he said.

Overall, the annual cost to Arizona of enforcing Prop. 314, mainly the expense of incarcerating people who crossed the border illegally, would be about $325 million, according to projections by the Grand Canyon Institute.

Even though Arizona voters approved the measure on a 3-2 margin in the Nov. 5 election, it could not be immediately enforced.

It was modeled after SB 4 in Texas, which a federal appeals court has blocked after agreeing with the Biden administration that it illegally infringes on the exclusive right of the federal government to regulate immigration.

And rather than Arizona picking its own fights with the feds, Prop. 314 was crafted so it can take effect no sooner than six months after there is a final court ruling upholding SB 4. That’s all academic now, said Petersen.

He said there are other provisions in the measure that still have value.

One requires state agencies to check the immigration status of those who apply for public benefits. Another makes it a crime to submit false documents or information to an employer to evade discovery of status of being in the country without documentation.

There also is language that increases the prison terms for the “sale of lethal fentanyl’’ based on the claim that much of the supply of the drug or its precursor chemicals has come across the border.

But the measure was sold largely on the basis of ensuring the state can play a role in dealing with people illegally crossing the border.

“What it means is we don’t have to do the federal government’s job,’’ Petersen said. “This obviously frees up law enforcement so they can shift their priorities.’’

The approval of Prop. 314 was not a fluke in the 2024 election.

Immigration was one of the top issues on the federal level. rump gained traction on the national level — and here in Arizona where he picked up more than 53% of the votes — with promises to not just seal the border but to deport the approximately 11 million who have entered the country without authorization.

GOP lawmakers in Arizona first approved the plan to allow state and local police to arrest those who enter the country at other than a port of entry as legislation and sent it to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. She vetoed it earlier this year.

“I absolutely understand Arizonans’ frustration,’’ Hobbs said at the time. But she said the bill “is not the answer to that problem.’’

So GOP lawmakers turned around and put it on the ballot, beyond her power to veto it, adding in the provisions on public benefits, employment documentation and fentanyl.

Petersen said while Trump won, that doesn’t mean Arizonans made a mistake in approving the state border measure.

“The way I see 314 now is, it’s a resource for us to have if we ever get a president again that won’t enforce federal law,’’ he said. “But, right now, Trump is going to enforce the law that’s in place.’’

That raises a question: Are there enough Border Patrol officers to do what Trump is planning?

A 2023 audit by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security found that 88% of border stations reported they were understaffed. That situation was complicated by many agents being reassigned to deal with migrants who were crossing the border and seeking asylum.

Petersen, however, said he is not worried that cost will be a factor based on the promises that Trump made.

“He said there’s no price tag on it,’’ the Senate president said of Trump. “If they need local authorities’ help, we can help with that. But everything we’re hearing and seeing from them (the Trump administration) is they’re going to enforce the law.’’

Just the election of Trump is making a difference, Petersen said.

“We’re hearing of people self-deporting,’’ he said, adding there is evidence that some groups that were headed to the U.S. are “breaking up.’’

“It’s already become a huge deterrent,” said the Gilbert senator.