'A win for civil rights': Hobbs rejects Republican-backed immigrations bills

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs once again vetoed Republican-backed immigration bills approved at the end of April, which would have obligated law enforcement and state public officials to comply with federal immigration orders.

Senate Bill 1610 and House Bill 2099 were approved last week by the Republican-majority chambers and were shot down on Friday by the Democratic governor who has resisted fully giving in to President Donald Trump’s harsh anti-immigrant agenda, focusing her support on border-related policy and disapproving of state-endorsed immigration enforcement debated at the Legislature.

SB 1610 would have obligated Arizona county jails to share personal information of any detained person with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on a daily basis or upon request should they be held on lower level offenses, like burglary, theft and shoplifting. HB 2099 would have obligated state officials to comply with immigration orders.

In her veto letters, Hobbs said she was committed to working with the federal government “on true border security,” but would not allow state officials to place extreme burden on local law enforcement or to hand state decision-making authority over Washington D.C.

These latest rejections followed her veto in April of SB 1164, dubbed the Arizona ICE Act and introduced by State Senators Warren Petersen and T.J. Shope. It would have mandated local and state law enforcement agencies to collaborate with ICE officials in facilitating the detainment of undocumented individuals for up to 48 hours without a court order. The law would have also prohibited the adoption of policies banning this type of cooperation.

In her rejection of the bill, Hobbs said that she would continue to comply with federal orders to enforce border security, “but we should not force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington D.C.”

Local immigrant rights activists applauded her veto of the bills, in particular SB 1610. Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), a Phoenix-based immigrant advocacy group, wrote in a statement that the bill was “disguised to smuggle authoritarianism into law.”

The veto marked “a win for civil rights, for due process, and for every Arizonan,” LUCHA wrote in an Instagram post on Friday. “Now we keep fighting — because the MAGA agenda hasn’t slowed down, and we won’t either.”

Slew of immigrant-targeting proposals

Several immigration-focused legislative proposals were introduced this session at the start of the year, in line with Trump’s return to the White House.

At least 13 bills adhere to the president’s agenda, like SB 1111, which would create a bounty for arrests that lead to deportations. and SB 1088, which would obligate all federal agencies and any independent contractors they work with to comply with immigration-mandated orders.

With the latest vetoes, however, GOP leaders could very well look to voters again to approve the rejected measures, similar to what they did with Proposition 314, which received overwhelming approval during the general election in November.

Last year, Hobbs vetoed the then-dubbed Arizona Invasion Act, introduced by Republican Sen. Janae Shamp and fully backed by GOP legislators. The series of bills was later packaged under the House Concurrent Resolution 2060, approved by Senate and House majority and, due to its nature not requiring governor approval, was streamlined onto the ballot as Prop. 314.

The approved measure vastly mirrors what once was SB 1070, the controversially dubbed “show me your papers” law that was later partially struck down due to countless lawsuits involving racial profiling concerns. Prop. 314 allows local and state law agencies to enforce immigration law, which currently only falls under federal jurisdiction, making unauthorized immigration a state crime. It also shields officers from lawsuits, including cases of racial profiling. 

The measure, however, has not gone into effect as it tied to the outcome of a similar law in Texas, SB 4, which was constitutionally challenged by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration and has been stuck in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ever since.