Patterned after a Texas law, HCR 2060, titled the Secure the Border Act, passed the state House on a party-line vote, with Republicans holding a slim one-vote majority in the chamber.
The bill, which already passed through the Senate, would make it a crime to enter Arizona illegally and would allow local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws while also allowing state judges to deport people convicted of breaking the new law.
“Nothing good comes from open borders,” Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma said in a statement to the New York Post. “Only crime, deadly drugs, violence, unsafe communities, and an unending financial drain on American taxpayers. Yet, Democrat leaders fiercely oppose doing anything about it.”
Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed similar legislation earlier this year and has signaled opposition to the new effort, though this time the Republican bill will bypass the governor and be put in front of voters in November for approval.
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