Arizona GOP wants voters to weigh in on immigration. The plan is now one step closer to the ballot

Intense debate, anger and an alleged ethics violation marked the advancement of a Republican border security proposal out of the Arizona Senate on Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers amended the proposal before passing it on a 16-13 party-line vote, minus one absent Democrat, after almost four hours of squabbling and debate. The next step is for a state House vote on the revised measure, which is scheduled for June 4. If it clears the House and another pass through the Senate, it'll appear on the November ballot, where voters will make the final decision on it.

The ballot measure would make crossing the international border a state crime, allow for state officials to arrest and deport border crossers, enhance penalties when fentanyl sales result in death, prevent undocumented migrants from receiving state benefits and boost verification of employees’ immigration status. Based on Texas' SB4 bill that's stuck in court proceedings and opposed by the Biden administration, the provision about border crossers could not take effect unless courts uphold the Texas law.

Debate over a new amendment to House Concurrent Resolution 2060 devolved at times into accusations of name-calling and lack of decorum, with some of the barbs launched at pro-migrant visitors in the gallery who peppered the proceeding with groans and finger-snapping.

At one point, some gallery members shouted in a rage during a speech by Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge. Shope, who is Hispanic, said he hoped fellow Hispanics didn't hear Democrats' complaints that police wear badges just to harass them, and accused Democrats of overusing the word "racism."

Security officers rushed to escort the raucous visitors out while Senate President Warren Petersen admonished one visitor for not having "self-control." About half the visitors left the gallery.

In another tense moment, Sen. John Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican who gave forceful speeches supporting the bill, said he would file an ethics complaint against Phoenix Democratic Sen. Catherine Miranda, who accused him of racial profiling, unless she apologized to him. Kavanagh, a former East Coast Port Authority officer, had suggested some members of the gallery were "criminals" after the crowd murmured loudly following his comment that some criminals are "stupid."

A new amendment by Sen. David Gowan, R-Sierra Vista, removed a section on how the proposal would affect Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries. That came at the request of fellow Republican Sen. Ken Bennett, of Prescott. The original proposal allowed DACA recipients to escape punishment from the law, but not if courts abolished the program.

"We don't want to harm any DACA recipients," Gowan said. "We didn't believe we were, anyway."

The amendment also addressed a concern by critics that the border-crossing law could create civil rights violations by police who don’t have proper probable cause for an arrest. Pro-migrant groups have warned for months the provision would lead to police stopping people simply because they had dark skin. The amendment would require officers to personally witness an illegal border crossing, obtain a video of the alleged violation, or utilize some other constitutionally valid probable cause to make the arrest.

Bennett said he believes the amendment “tightens up” the notion that enforcement would primarily take place at the border.

Democrats pushed back on the amendment’s probable cause provision. Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, described the third probable cause stipulation as a catch-all that could be abused by police.

"It does underline a continuing concern, continuing fear, that this does open up communities to racial profiling," she said.

Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, whose brother was shot and killed by police in 2019, said she respects Bennett’s belief that police are not likely to violate someone’s civil rights but doesn’t believe everyone has the same experience. She was worried the proposal wouldn’t limit enforcement to border areas, she said.

"We should be doing our job to help the families of Arizona, not to divide them, not to create a path by which they'll be separated," she said.

"Our concerns have not been addressed, in case there's any confusion," said Sen. Eva Burch, a Mesa Democrat who attacked the unfunded expense of the measure and other provisions. "It's going to hurt our economy, our law enforcement, our courts and our people."

Bennett, in explaining that his concerns had been alleviated, said he was disappointed some people felt the amendment didn't make the proposal better. But he added he's still concerned by comments brought up by Sen. Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, about the possibility that families of mixed immigration status might be deterred by the law from obtaining benefits for which they qualified. The bill could be further amended in the House, he noted.

Republicans hope their proposal will directly tackle the border crisis they blame on the Biden administration, allowing state law enforcement to capture, arrest or even deport migrants. They’re also looking for a political boost on an issue that crosses party registration.

Sen. Janae Shamp is a Surprise Republican who sponsored the original Arizona Border Invasion Act that the ballot measure was based on. She gave several impassioned speeches this year about the ravages of border crime and abuse of migrants by criminals. She and other Republicans held news conferences to promote the bill while House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, who’s running for Congress, touted his own proposal aimed at stopping undocumented immigrants from obtaining jobs or benefits in Arizona.

Lawmakers used a strike-all amendment this month to create the new, proposed ballot measure after Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the Invasion Act in March.

Hobbs put out a statement reiterating her opposition to the new plan after the Senate's vote on Wednesday. It highlighted her December decision to deploy National Guard troops to the border.

"We desperately need more resources to secure our border, not empty political rhetoric," she wrote. "Arizona should not pay the price for the federal government’s inaction.”

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GOP-backed immigration ballot measure advances out of Arizona Senate