PHOENIX — After four hours of sometimes bitter debate, the Arizona Senate on Wednesday passed a Republican-backed resolution that would let voters decide in November whether law-enforcement officers can arrest illegal border crossers.
The "Secure the Border Act," one of the toughest immigration measures in the country, now goes to the GOP-controlled House. The House will likely take up the resolution HCR2060 after it returns to work June 4.
A legislative referral to the November ballot doesn't require the governor's approval.
In a statement after the Senate vote, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said the resolution "will kill jobs, hurt businesses and prevent law enforcement from stopping dangerous crimes."
Arizona's prisons director has warned that the measure would result in new incarceration costs of estimated $250 million over five years.
The ballot referral would give Arizona law-enforcement officers the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants who enter the state between ports of entry.
That authority now rests with the federal government. The resolution would make illegal entry a state crime, as well.
The resolution would also toughen the penalty for a death tied to a fentanyl supplier and stiffen requirements to check the immigration status of job applicants and people who seek government benefits.
The resolution stalled last week after Republican Sen. Ken Bennett of Prescott objected to an amendment that would have exposed DACA recipients to potential arrest.
That amendment was removed, and more specific language defining "probable cause" to make an arrest was added.
During the contentious debate, Republican lawmakers vividly described the images and impact of record numbers of migrants streaming over the border.
"You don't let people who sneak in the back door take over your country," said Republican Sen. John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills.
Kavanagh was a sponsor of SB1070 in 2010, the so-called "Show me your papers" law that at the time was the toughest immigration statute in the country.
For many Democratic lawmakers, the measure personally touched many who had experienced racial profiling.
"The proposal really is the accumulation of all the hate and ignorance of years of multiple failed immigration proposals," said Democratic Sen. Juan Mendez of Tempe.
The emotions got so raw that Republican Senate President Warren Petersen cleared the Senate gallery of opponents chanting "Stop the hate."
"You have no self-control," Petersen said repeatedly to the protesters.
If the ballot initiative were approved in November, it would be a "voter-protected" law that legislators could amend only with a three-quarters supermajority vote.
But voter approval would still leave the initiative with an uncertain future.
Arizona's "Secure the Border Act" is modeled on Texas' SB4, which is hung up in the courts.
The Arizona law wouldn't take effect unless or until the Texas law was cleared by the courts.
A U.S. Supreme Court review is likely.
In order for the high court to uphold the Texas law, the justices would have to toss out the 2012 Supreme Court ruling that struck down much of Arizona's SB1070.
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