A bill advancing in the Arizona Legislature would direct local police to determine the immigration status of people they’ve arrested. If a person is undocumented, local police would be required to notify federal immigration officers.
If a local police officer fails to do so, they could be fined thousands of dollars, the bill states.
SB1055 passed in the Senate last month, and earlier this week, a House Committee passed a recommendation for the bill.
“This bill requires and allows law enforcement, once they arrest or apprehend an illegal alien, to make a phone call,” said Rep. John Gillette, who supported the measure. “That’s it. Notify ICE.”
But Democratic legislators argued the bill would place strain on police and discourage community members from contacting local police due to fear of detainment and deportation.
“This objectively means more crime goes unreported and unsolved. Victims of domestic violence, assault, trafficking stay silent rather than risk exposure,” said Rep. Aaron Márquez.
During Monday’s House Committee session, Rep. Quanta Crews attempted to introduce a “strike everything” amendment — something that would have overwritten SB1055 with the text of an entirely different bill. She was outvoted.
“Immigration enforcement is not our job. I am not for doing other people’s job. I am all about staying in my own lane,” she said in opposition to the bill.
SB1055 follows a trail of Republican-backed bills that aim to tighten the screws on immigration enforcement in Arizona.
Last month, State Sen. Jake Hoffman sponsored a measure that would have placed immigration enforcement agents at polling places. ( The bill is now inactive in the legislature.) Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Wendy Rogers, would have required hospitals to ask patients about their immigration status.
To become law, the bills would need a signature from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. The Governor has vetoed similar Republican-backed immigration bills in the past.
Last month, for instance, she vetoed SB1051 — the bill attempting to track the number of undocumented patients treated at hospitals.
