Latest news with #GloriaRebeccaGomez
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
ICE resumes courthouse arrests in Phoenix, but with new tactics amid opposition
A woman holds up a large banner that reads: 'ICE is here! Take precautions,' in Spanish at the Phoenix Immigration Court in Phoenix on May 28, 2025. After several days of no arrests, ICE agents have resumed detaining people at the court, where migrants are caught between the risk of a potential arrest if they show up and the certainty of a deportation order being issued against them if they don't. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Immigration agents have resumed arresting people who show up to immigration hearings, pulling over and detaining a mother and her children on Wednesday morning. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than a dozen people over two days in hallways, elevators and the parking lot after federal prosecutors filed to dismiss their immigration cases, leaving them vulnerable to deportation. Similar scenes played out across the country, in Seattle, Miami and Los Angeles, in what legal experts say is a bid by the Trump administration to boost deportation numbers by targeting a population that is easy to access. Migrants with scheduled hearings must show up to court or risk a deportation order. Federal immigration agents appear to be focusing on people who have recently arrived in the country. In January, President Donald Trump expanded the scope of expedited removal, a policy that speeds up deportations while at the same time sidestepping the right to a court hearing, from a limited application under the Biden administration that was enforced close to the border to the entire country instead. That expansion means that federal officials can arrest anyone who has lived in the U.S. for less than two years. According to the Arizona Republic, the people whose cases were dismissed last week fell in that category. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In Phoenix, the two days of raids were followed by several days of reprieve — until Wednesday morning, when immigrant rights advocates say federal immigration officials pulled a mother and her children over and arrested them after driving away from court. In a video posted by 50501 Arizona, a group that opposes Trump's policies, masked federal agents can be seen escorting a woman out of a white mid-sized suv into a van. The woman is carrying an infant's car seat and holding the hand of a young girl walking behind her. Ratt, a member of 50501 who was unwilling to give her last name, denounced the raids as 'human trafficking,' and lamented to the Arizona Mirror that people who are complying with the legal process are being targeted. 'It's bullsh—. These people are doing everything right, they're doing everything legally only to be followed and taken,' she said. 'And it's wrong, it's so enraging.' It's bullsh—. These people are doing everything right, they're doing everything legally only to be followed and taken. – Ratt Beth Strano, the executive director of the Borderlands Resource Initiative, an immigrant rights organization that has helped organize multiple volunteer trainings and protests in response to the detainments, said that ICE agents are changing their tactics, likely due to opposition from advocates. Last week, agents in plain clothes waited in the courtroom and coordinated with other officers outside. But, according to protestors, Wednesday's actions appeared to be the result of officers trying to minimize their visibility by surveilling from the parking structure across the courthouse, identifying the vehicle of the person whose case was dismissed and then stopping them down the road. Strano said that the presence of observers and protestors at the courthouse and other buildings where arrests happen, including Phoenix's ICE field office, is vital to be able to learn how federal immigration officials are conducting raids and keep vulnerable community members informed about their rights. 'The more that we are watching and we're seeing what they're doing, the more we can report back to the community and people can make their plans accordingly,' she said. 'They can know what their rights are, and they can have as much protection within their legal rights as possible.' But while advocates last week were able to disseminate literature to people entering the courthouse about their rights, this week protestors dealt with new opposition from the property manager. A white rope was tied to the trees next to the courthouse, demarcating where the crowd should stand: on the public sidewalk facing Van Buren Street, several feet away from the court's entrance. Attendees set up a large white poster announcing 'Rights & Information' against the rope in hopes of persuading migrants to approach. Other, smaller posters advising migrants in Spanish not to sign anything and to ask for an appeal if the judge dismisses their case, were difficult to read from that far away. Some walked to the intersection of Van Buren Street and 7th Avenue and held up a large banner warning drivers that ICE agents were present. And a group that gathered in front of the entrance to speak to people arriving for their scheduled hearings during the afternoon session was quickly told to disperse by Phoenix police officers or be arrested for trespassing. The group relocated to the courtroom and lobby to observe hearings and ensure migrants leaving their hearings were advised about the danger. While no arrests occurred during the afternoon session, multiple people missed their hearings. It's unclear if a fear of detainment was the reason. Strano said that, while an arrest is possible, migrants should still attend their hearings. The alternative is a closed case, a deportation order in absentia and a much more difficult time restarting the legal process. Instead of skipping their hearings, migrants should try to show up to court with a lawyer or someone else who is either a legal permanent resident or citizen to serve as an observer who can contact family members if an arrest does occur. Strano added that migrants who are pulled over after their hearings shouldn't open their door or leave their vehicle unless ICE agents provide an arrest warrant signed by a judge. As immigrant rights groups sound the alarm over what they view as due process violations, Arizona's Democratic congressional delegation is pushing back at the federal level. On Wednesday, Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly and Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Greg Stanton sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons expressing concern over the arrests. The people detained at the courthouse, they wrote, have no criminal records and represent no danger to the community. 'This action targeted those who followed the rules and showed up to their hearing to present their case to an immigration judge as part of the process for claiming asylum or other legal status, where they would be granted or denied status,' the Democrats wrote. They noted that the administration's hyperfocus on immigration enforcement threatens to undermine public safety, and the latest bid to arrest people complying with federal law is just another example of that. 'The administration's use of limited resources and reassignment of law enforcement away from drug trafficking and human trafficking cases to target noncriminal immigrants means that serious criminals may be allowed to continue roaming the streets at large — making Arizonans less safe,' they wrote. 'Instead, finite resources should be focused on removing individuals who pose genuine threats to public safety, such as gang members and violent offenders, not people complying with the law.' The letter requests that the agencies provide, by June 3, the exact number of people arrested at immigration courthouses and their demographic information, including their country of origin and age; the number of people who were already in removal proceedings; how many of them have been placed in expedited removal; a copy of the guidance that was used to carry out the arrests; and information on how ICE is meeting federal requirements to conduct fear screenings for people in custody. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Damned if you do, damned if you don't': Activists guard Phoenix immigration court
Protesters gather at the immigration court in downtown Phoenix to guard against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting people showing up for their scheduled court hearings. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Immigrant rights activists kept watch over the Phoenix Immigration Court on Thursday, withstanding 100 degree weather and threats of arrests, ready to protest against a new round of ICE detainments. Federal officials didn't make an appearance, granting migrants who showed up to attend mandatory immigration hearings a reprieve. But organizers of pro-immigrant advocacy groups say they plan to continue gathering at the court, as there is no guarantee there won't be future raids. More than a dozen people so far have been arrested in the past two days by ICE agents. Officers reportedly detained people in elevators, hallways and on their way back to their cars, just minutes after federal prosecutors asked judges to dismiss their immigration cases. That's key, because closing a person's immigration case allows the federal government to refile it under the current legal landscape. And President Donald Trump's administration has vastly changed that landscape, gutting asylum protections and eliminating humanitarian parole programs created by former President Joe Biden for migrants from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti and Nicaragua. Dismissing immigration cases also leaves the people at the center of those cases vulnerable to expedited removal, a policy that fast-tracks deportations and circumvents the right to a court hearing. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Trump laid the groundwork for this week's arrests shortly after taking office by issuing executive orders that reinstated the ability of immigration officials to carry out enforcement actions near previously protected areas, including courts and expanded the scope of expedited removal to apply to anyone living anywhere in the U.S. without authorization if they are unable to prove their continuous presence in the country for more than two years. The arrests earlier this week appeared to involve people who have been in the country for less than two years, according to the Arizona Republic. Similar arrests at immigration courts in other cities, including Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami, have also happened this week. Legal experts and immigration advocates say it's a bid to boost deportations and fulfill Trump's campaign promise to oversee the highest number of removals in history. No court, no hearing: Trump revives fast-track deportations, expands reach nationwide Ricardo Reyes, a lead organizer for Common Defense, an anti-Trump veterans group that frequently speaks out against anti-immigrant policies, called the targeting of people attending scheduled hearings 'cruel' and said it's an easy way to identify multiple people eligible for deportation. 'They're going for the easiest targets and the softest targets of people trying to do it the right way, because you have their information — you have their address, you have their names,' he said. Reyes added that forcing people to choose between attending their scheduled immigration hearing and risking detention, or skipping the hearing and facing an order of removal as a result, amounts to violating their due process rights, which everyone in the country is entitled to, regardless of their citizenship status. 'This is entrapment, because you're damned if you do, damned if you don't,' he said. 'If you show up for your court hearing, they dismiss your case and then you get picked up. If you don't show up, then you automatically get marked for removal.' And while Thursday appeared to be quiet, Reyes noted that, in the previous days, ICE agents sometimes left the court only to return for the next batch of immigration hearings. The court's hearings are divided into a morning and an afternoon session. Reyes vowed to continue returning to stand vigil beside the courthouse until he was confident the raids would not return, though he didn't say when that might be. 'I will be here until we think they're no longer interested in coming back,' he said. As the heat climbed into the triple digits, Monica Sandschafer pushed the crowd away from the sidewalk in front of the courthouse toward the one facing Van Buren Street, instructing them to stay on city property to avoid problems. During previous demonstrations, the property manager contacted the local police, according to organizers, and she threatened to do so again on Thursday. Advocates huddled under the trees and turned their posters, emblazoned with phrases like 'Bring Kilmar home' and 'No bans, raids, cages,' towards the oncoming traffic, but kept watch over the courthouse and its adjoining parking lot. At the building's entrance, two volunteers waited for people to arrive for their hearings and handed out small red cards with information — in English on one side and Spanish on the other — about their rights when interacting with ICE. Sandschafer, the Arizona State Director for Latino voting rights organization Mi Familia Vota, pointed out that people attending immigration hearings, many of them who are seeking asylum, are following the legal process that Republicans and immigration hawks have long advocated for. 'Opponents of immigration like to say, 'Well, just do it the right way and then you won't have any problems,'' she said. 'These are literally folks doing it exactly the right way that has been laid out for them and then getting tricked into being detained. It's a bait and switch.' These are literally folks doing it exactly the right way that has been laid out for them and then getting tricked into being detained. It's a bait and switch. – Monica Sandschafer, Arizona State Director for Mi Familia Vota Members of Mi Familia Vota have responded by volunteering to accompany people to their court hearings, checking to make sure their case hasn't been closed already — which would mean they don't need to go at all — figuring out how much can be completed online and collecting family contact information in the event of a detainment. The group has also launched 'Know Your Rights' training sessions and citizenship application workshops. For lawful permanent residents, who have also been detained under the current administration's hostile deportation agenda, the best protection is finalizing their citizenship status, Sandschafer said. Sandschafer, too, said she expects to keep adding a visit to the courthouse to her daily calendar. 'We'll be continuing to be a presence as long as ICE is executing these unconstitutional, anti-due process actions,' she said. State and city leaders have lashed out at the move to ensnare people who pose no danger. People with scheduled immigration hearings have already been found by a judge to be willing to comply with the rules of their parole without needing to be put in detention. Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, both Democrats and openly critical of Trump's anti-immigrant policies, lambasted the new strategy on social media. 'My office is in contact with DHS to gather more information,' Hobbs wrote, in a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter. 'We need to prioritize efforts to deport criminals and secure the border. Indiscriminately rounding up people following the rules won't make us safer.' 'ICE should be focused on apprehending dangerous criminals, not targeting families outside civil immigration hearings,' echoed Mayes. 'Families and children attempting to navigate the immigration system in good faith deserve dignity and due process, not intimidation or fear.' Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez, who previously served in the state Senate and has a fiercely pro-immigrant stance, called the arrests 'heartbreaking.' She noted that the hearings on Thursday weren't a series of dismissal motions, like earlier in the week, and posited that the attention from elected officials and immigrant advocates may have deterred a repeat of the ICE detainments. But while elected officials have voiced their concerns with the actions carried out by ICE officials, it's unclear what can be done to prevent it from happening again. Earlier this year, immigrant advocates and city officials alike debated the possibility of passing a citywide ordinance limiting collaboration with federal immigration officials, but nothing came of it. Hernandez said the City of Phoenix likely has little power to stop ICE from arresting people simply attending their immigration hearings. 'Because it is an immigration situation, I think that really is out of our hands, unfortunately,' she said. 'But what we can do, as city electeds, is make sure that we're here to support our people however we can.' Hernandez did say she would support a move to rescind the Maricopa County Jail's involvement in the 287(g) program, though none is currently in the works. The federal agreement allows some officers in the jail enforcement model to help ICE identify people in custody who may be eligible for deportation. Amid the Trump administration's increasingly hostile moves against immigrants, critics have called for scaling back the relationships between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration officials. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant rights group seeks to nullify ‘Secure Border Act' over missing funding
LUCHA Executive Director Alejandra Gomez speaks on April 2, 2025, about the lawsuit her organization filed challenging the constitutionality of the Secure Border Act, which voters overwhelmingly passed in 2024. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror An immigrant rights group is asking the courts to overturn the Secure Border Act, the ballot measure voters overwhelmingly approved last year that made it a state crime for migrants to illegally cross the Arizona-Mexico border, because it violates a provision in the state constitution that voters approved more than 20 years ago. Living United for Change in Arizona, a progressive organization that was first formed in the aftermath of SB1070, the state's notorious 'show me your papers law,' filed a lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon arguing that the sweeping anti-immigrant law should be struck down because it violates funding source protections in the Arizona Constitution. In a statement, the group's spokesman, Cesar Fierros, characterized the legal challenge as an attempt to push back on increasing anti-immigrant hostility from Arizona's GOP-controlled legislature. 'This lawsuit challenges a key component of the far-right playbook being advanced in Arizona — an effort that seeks to criminalize immigrant families, stoke racial fear, and undermine civil rights across the state,' Fierros wrote. 'LUCHA's legal action aims to protect Arizona communities from policies that threaten our freedoms, our safety, and our democracy.' Voters last year sided with the GOP lawmakers who crafted the Secure Border Act and sent it to the ballot, with 63% of votes in favor of Proposition 314. The law makes it a misdemeanor to cross the state's southern border without authorization anywhere but at an official port of entry, which could carry with it up to 6 months in jail. Local police officers would be empowered to arrest migrants suspected of violating that law, and state judges would be able to issue deportation orders. While that provision is frozen until the U.S. Supreme Court rules a near-identical law in Texas can be enforced, other parts of it are active, including making it a class 6 felony to use false documentation to apply for benefits or jobs and creating an entirely new class of felony for people convicted of selling fentanyl that later results in someone else's death. The problem with the initiative, according to LUCHA attorney Jim Barton, is that the Arizona Constitution requires ballot measures that require any government spending to identify a funding source. And that money can't come from Arizona's general fund. That constitutional provision dates back to 2004, when Republican lawmakers sought to prevent advocacy groups from going to the ballot to force the state government to pay for programs that the GOP majority didn't want. But the constitutional restriction applies also to measures sent to the ballot by the legislature. When lawmakers last year were considering the Secure Border Act, multiple law enforcement officials travelled to the Capitol to warn that they would need more resources to enforce its directives. But lawmakers still failed to set aside a funding stream, something the Arizona Mirror exclusively reported on. That, Barton said, nullifies the initiative. 'Because Proposition 314 will cost millions of dollars and it has no funding source, it's unconstitutional and enforceable,' he said. In Texas, more than $11 billion of taxpayer money has been set aside to fund the Lone Star State's restrictive border policies. Although the provision in Prop. 314 making it a state crime to cross the border without permission is likely the one with the biggest price tag, the other parts that are being enforced will also cost money. Barton noted that the restriction on public benefits, which requires agencies to double check a person's eligibility through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements federal database, could impact kids applying for library cards. 'This is a fiscally irresponsible act,' Barton said. This isn't the first time LUCHA and Barton have sought to void Prop. 314. Before the initiative was placed on the ballot last year, the group attempted to convince the courts that, because it spans so many different parts of Arizona law, it violated the state constitution's single-subject rule. But that challenge failed, with the Arizona Supreme Court agreeing with Republican lawmakers, who argued that all of the act's provisions fall under the overarching theme of border security. But this lawsuit is different, Barton said, because the Arizona Constitution is very clear about funding sources and it isn't open for interpretation. 'I don't see any wiggle room here,' he said. 'The law says you have to provide funding for mandatory expenditures. This mandates expenditures and it doesn't provide a source.' And that earlier loss in court will also aid LUCHA: Barton noted that the courts have already concluded that all the provisions in Prop. 314 deal with just one subject, meaning that Republicans won't be able to argue that just one part should be struck down. So, if any part of it is judged to be in violation of the Arizona Constitution, the whole act will have to be nullified. Along with arguing that Prop. 314 is unconstitutional because it fails to provide money to pay for it, LUCHA is also claiming that it violates two other legal principles, which govern how lawmakers make policy and to what degree government branches can encroach on each other's responsibilities. One of them, which is included in the Arizona Constitution, is the separation of powers. Barton said that a provision in Prop. 314 defining probable cause for officers who arrest migrants infringes on the judicial branch's authority. The other principle is known as the delegation of legislative authority, and it requires lawmakers to pass policy and laws for their own constituents. Barton says lawmakers violated that principle when it made Prop. 314 dependent on the legal future of Texas' law. 'The Arizona legislature gave our lawmaking over to the Texas legislature, and said, 'Well, once Texas gets their law through, then and only then will our law take effect,'' he said. 'You can't do that. The Arizona legislature has the responsibility to make laws for the state of Arizona.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP bill targets Arizona schools that restrict immigration agents on campus
A protester holds up a sign opposing collaboration between local police and federal immigration officials at the state Capitol in Phoenix on Feb. 10, 2025. Republican leadership has introduced a law, called the Arizona ICE Act, that would increase the spread of official cooperation agreements between ICE and every law enforcement agency in the state. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Arizona Republicans want to force public schools to open their doors to ICE agents, amid a growing wave of school officials issuing guidance or passing rules against doing so. The state Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 1164, known as the Arizona ICE Act. The bill has been denounced by immigrant rights advocates and opposed by every Democrat in the legislature because it encourages Arizona's law enforcement agencies to strengthen their relationships with federal immigration authorities, ultimately increasing the degree to which local police officers prioritize the detainment of undocumented people. While originally the bill mandated that police departments and sheriff's offices across the state use their 'best efforts' to support the execution of federal immigration laws — ringing alarm bells for pro-immigrant groups who feared it could pave the way for Trump's mass deportation agenda — that language was removed before the full Senate considered it on Wednesday. But a provision strictly prohibiting any governmental entity from approving any policy that restricts cooperation with ICE was left intact. And that bid to tie the hands of local leaders — including city councils and school boards — who want to protect the populations under their care elicited criticism from Democrats. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Catherine Miranda, D-Phoenix, noted that some Arizona schools are moving to declare their campuses safe zones in the wake of Trump's executive order rescinding a Biden-era policy that prevented ICE agents from carrying out enforcement actions in schools, churches and hospitals. Days after the executive order was issued, the Phoenix Union High School District governing board unanimously adopted a resolution declaring its campuses were safe zones, and stating that no individual or organization that would create an educational disruption would be allowed on school grounds. Tucson Unified School District also reaffirmed its commitment not to allow ICE agents on campus without a judicial warrant. Legal experts say that ICE agents frequently rely on administrative warrants, which don't permit searches, only arrests and seizures by a designated officer. School officials must comply with judicial warrants, but can develop policies on whether to cooperate with agents who present only administrative warrants or similar documents that are otherwise legally insufficient to allow them entry. Miranda grilled Senate President Warren Petersen, who sponsored the Arizona ICE Act, on whether his proposal would jeopardize such school policies. The bill has the potential to nullify any policies adopted by public school officials, even those like TUSD's guidance that mirrors current law. The Republican from Gilbert said that any official ordinance or rule that interferes with the ability of federal immigration officers to carry out their duties would be unlawful under the bill's provisions. He added that he was unsure about the ability of ICE agents to enter schools without warrants, but said he doesn't expect them to target students. 'I don't contemplate any situation where they would be going into a school. But if a school is passing rules saying that they won't cooperate with ICE, then, yeah, the answer is yeah, they cannot do that,' he said. 'That is kind of unthinkable, really. We want our schools, who are teaching our kids, to be sending a message that they're going to try to break laws?' Petersen sought to redirect the conversation around the bill to focus on its mandate for law enforcement agencies to comply with ICE detainers. 'What this really deals with here is we're seeing cities that are putting our immigration officials into dangerous situations because, for example, they're not honoring detainers that are issued by ICE,' he said. 'Instead of ICE picking up a criminal who's broken either a state or federal law, they're being released back into the community.' Also known as an immigration hold, ICE detainers are written requests to law enforcement agencies to keep people suspected of being in the country illegally in custody for an additional 48 hours after they are supposed to be released to give immigration officials time to determine whether they are eligible for removal — even if that person hasn't been convicted of a crime. Currently, law enforcement agencies have the option to obey those requests or follow only those issued with judicial approval. ICE detainers, and local compliance with them, have become a common talking point among border hawk politicians following last year's murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. The man convicted in her murder, Venezuelan immigrant Jose Ibarra, was previously arrested for traffic violations in New York and apprehended and cited for shoplifting in Atlanta. Despite no ICE detainer ever being issued for Ibarra, the case has prompted a nationwide push from Republican lawmakers for increased cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement agencies, and punishments for those who don't comply with detainers. Petersen's bill authorizes the Arizona attorney general to take any law enforcement agency found to be in violation of its directives to court, and even gives everyday Arizonans the ability to trigger investigations into local police departments. The Arizona ICE Act will move forward in the GOP majority legislature and is expected to earn the full support of the state Senate when it is next put up for a vote. But Democrats are unanimously opposed to it. Miranda said that she's concerned about its potential to negatively impact students who are undocumented. 'I'm worried about how this will affect attendance at our public schools,' she said. 'As a former educator, I believe no children should be deterred from receiving an education, especially not out of fear of deportation. Schools should be safe spaces where families can unify and foster a sense of community, they should not be tainted by mass deportation plans that prey on Arizona's vulnerable immigrant population.' Schools in other states are already shouldering the effects of hostile immigration policies. School districts in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver have reported drops in attendance and students staying home out of fear of being deported. And in Texas, 11-year-old Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, who was bullied at school by classmates who threatened to report her parents to ICE, committed suicide. While the Arizona ICE Act is likely to be approved by both chambers of the state legislature — which is under Republican control — it's also likely to be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has been critical of anti-immigrant proposals in the past. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Immigrant rights groups threaten to oust Democrat for voting to increase border funding
Immigrant rights advocates rally at the Arizona state Capitol on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, to protest a Tucson Democrat's decision to back a border security funding bill. Rep. Kevin Volk, who represents a historically GOP district in southern Arizona, justified his vote for the bill, which critics have said would turn police officers into ICE agents, as fulfilling the mandate his constituents sent him to the legislature with. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror Progressive groups that helped a moderate Democrat win a state House seat in a Republican district castigated the freshman lawmaker as 'racist' for backing a bill to give money to local police to enforce immigration law and said they may work to defeat him in 2026 if he continues to support the measure. Rep. Kevin Volk, D-Tucson, is a former teacher who narrowly captured a seat in the Arizona House of Representatives last year after mounting a campaign that opposed the 'extreme' and 'divisive' policies of the GOP-majority legislature. Since the legislative session began last month, he has sought to establish himself as a moderate, and on Feb. 24, he broke party ranks by joining Republicans to approve a proposal that critics say would transform police officers into border patrol agents. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX House Bill 2606 earmarks $50 million to fund law enforcement officers who work in drug interdiction, against human trafficking or who 'deter and apprehend' people accused of crossing the state's southern border illegally. The money would also be used to reimburse cities, counties and towns for the costs of prosecuting and detaining people accused of drug trafficking, human smuggling or immigrating without authorization. The costs of providing public defense against those charges for people who can't afford a lawyer, however, could not be paid from the pool of cash, even though doing so is legally required. GOP lawmakers say the bill provides the financial backing that law enforcement officials warned them would be necessary to enforce the mandates in Proposition 314. Titled the 'Secure the Border Act,' the referral made it a state crime for migrants to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere but at an official port of entry. After 63% of Arizonans in November voted to approve the referral, lawmakers returned to the legislature in January intent on providing the funding they had failed to secure initially — despite the fact that using taxpayer money from the state's general fund to pay for a proposal that increases state spending violates the Arizona Constitution and will likely lead to a lawsuit that could nullify Prop. 314. Opponents of the proposal urged lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 24 to reject it, arguing that awarding law enforcement agencies money to take on immigration enforcement duties primes them for carrying out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. Although it has been sold by Republicans as limited to actions taken under the directives of Prop. 314, critics say it's so broadly written as to greenlight any move to enforce federal immigration laws. Crystal Padilla, a member of Unite Here Local 11, a pro-immigrant group that regularly mobilizes on behalf of Democratic candidates, said she fears paying police officers to get involved in immigration enforcement will result in the rampant racial profiling that occurred while SB1070, the state's notorious 'show me your papers' was still in effect. Padilla shared that, as a child living near Sierra Vista, a town just 15 miles north of Mexico, she witnessed her family members suffer repeated discrimination because of SB1070. 'Some of my earliest memories were being pulled over by Border Patrol over and over again,' she said. 'My uncle is a citizen, and he was harassed by Border Patrol and local law enforcement just based on the color of his skin. He was even wrongfully imprisoned twice.' Padilla warned that funding Arizona law enforcement agencies to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally would jeopardize the due process rights of thousands, no matter their citizenship status. 'HB2606 would spend 50 million taxpayer dollars to turn local police into ICE agents and result in the over-policing of communities of color and immigrants,' she said. In the end, 11 Republicans and Volk cast their votes in favor of the bill, saying it's necessary to ensure that law enforcement officials have sufficient funding to meet the demands placed on them by the state and to keep Arizonans safe from crimes committed at the southern border. The remaining six Democrats on the panel voted against the bill. Volk said his constituents were overwhelmingly in favor of Prop. 314, and that his vote acknowledged their mandate to strengthen border security. But he noted that he also believes in the need for comprehensive immigration reform, and called on the federal government to take action to preserve legal immigration. 'People want our border to be well managed, and they want a hardline for bad actors — especially dangerous criminals,' he said. 'And the majority of us want an efficient, orderly process for legal immigration for those who are seeking a better life.' The Tucson Democrat pointed out that the requirements in Prop. 314 for state police officers and Arizona judges to arrest and deport people convicted of unlawfully crossing the border have been enshrined in state law by voters, and police departments will need money to implement the initiative if it ever becomes enforceable. Currently, the provision governing Arizona's involvement in immigration adjudication is frozen until the U.S. Supreme Court deems a near-identical law in Texas constitutional, or overturns its 2012 ruling against Arizona's SB1070, which concluded that the enforcement of immigration laws is under the sole purview of the federal government. This bill is a way to get much needed resources to supplement public safety. – Rep. Kevin Volk, D-Tucson Like Republicans on the panel, Volk defended the bill against concerns it will result in discrimination by saying the funding is intended only for law enforcement decisions prompted by Prop. 314's mandates. And, Volk claimed, the voter-approved law sufficiently addresses the situations under which police officers can arrest a person they suspect of having crossed the border without authorization. A provision in the referral states that arrests can only occur if a law enforcement officer witnesses a person crossing the southern border anywhere but at an official port of entry, there was a video recording of the unauthorized crossing or under 'other constitutionally sufficient indicia of probable cause.' Uncertainty about what the third option entails was the source of fierce opposition from Democrats when the measure was debated last year. They worried it could open the door to racial profiling, especially given that the referral includes an immunity clause shielding police officers from liability in lawsuits that may arise from decisions made while enforcing Prop. 314. Volk acknowledged that 'constitutionally sufficient indicia' is vague, but said the threat of costly lawsuits should prevent law enforcement agencies from violating the constitutional rights of Arizonans. 'We see that here in Maricopa County, where the bill is just passing $300 million in settlements,' he said, citing the ongoing legal and compliance costs associated with a federal judge's order that the county's sheriff's department overhaul its policies after it was found to have engaged in rampant racial profiling under the leadership of Joe Arpaio. 'This bill is a way to get much needed resources to supplement public safety,' Volk concluded. Hours after Volk voted to pass HB2606 — the second time he's approved the bill since it was first introduced — dozens of pro-immigrant advocates and members of progressive organizations gathered outside the state Capitol to vow electoral retribution if he continues to back the bill. It's next slated to go before the full House of Representatives for consideration. Cries of 'Republicans say go away, we say no way!' and 'Volk, Volk you can't hide, we can see your racist side!' echoed between the two legislative buildings as protestors marched behind a large green banner denouncing Volk for siding with 'AZ MAGA' politicians. Xenia Orona, the executive director of the Fuerte Arts Movement, which helped design and paint the banner, criticized Volk for what she viewed as abandoning immigrants and Latino Arizonans. 'Kevin Volk sold out our communities by giving money to the poli-migra,' she yelled to loud jeering from the crowd, using the Mexican slang term for close cooperation between local police and ICE. Orona, who has been an activist since the days of SB1070 and was among those who mobilized to recall its sponsor, Sen. Russell Pearce, said progressive groups canvassed on behalf of Volk, and his vote on Monday left them feeling betrayed. 'We helped him get into office and he sold us out,' she said. Gina Mendez, the organizing director for Living United for Change in Arizona, lambasted the GOP majority for continuing to advance anti-immigrant proposals. Emboldened by Trump's vow to oversee a mass deportation campaign and the passage of Prop. 314, Republicans in Arizona have introduced nearly a dozen such bills, including a bid to force law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officials and another to transform police departments and sheriff's offices into bounty hunting agencies by awarding them $2,500 for each arrest that leads to a deportation. Mendez called the bills an 'attack' on working and minority Arizonans, and criticized Volk for backing one of them, leading the crowd in a 'Vote out Volk!' chant. She warned that any Democrat who crosses party lines to support discriminatory legislation would face repercussions from progressive groups that mobilize voters. LUCHA has long been involved in canvassing voters for Democratic candidates, and was part of a coalition last year that knocked on 1 million doors to encourage voters to back pro-reproductive rights candidates. 'That's exactly what we're going to have to do with him and any Democrat who uses our people to get votes and uses our people as a sacrifice to get bills in,' Mendez said, after the chants to vote Volk out died down. We helped him get into office and he sold us out. – Xenia Orona, Fuerte Arts Movement executive director Raquel Terán, a former state senator and current director of Proyecto Progreso, said that allocating funding for border security initiatives necessarily reduces the amount of money that could be spent advancing initiatives that could help improve the lives of all Arizonans. 'The more resources that are given to implement immigration laws, the more is taken away from schools, from public services that are needed — it takes away from things that move Arizona forward,' she said. Terán, an activist-turned-politician who went on to serve in both legislative chambers and was the head of the Arizona Democratic Party from 2021 through 2023, waved off the political reality that Volk faces in a heavily Republican district. The solution is not balancing votes, she said, but rather 'sticking to Democratic values,' which includes standing with immigrant communities, not supporting proposals that could lead to racial profiling. While Terán was critical of Volk's choice to stand with Republicans on the issue, she said she's optimistic that the bill will eventually meet Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto pen. Hobbs has been vocally opposed to Trump's mass deportation plans and proposals in Arizona that seek to ramp up the prosecution of undocumented Arizonans. And while the Democrat prefers addressing border security by increasing the funding for law enforcement agencies and communities along the border, even bills that Republicans have sought to frame as doing so have met her ire. A spokesman for her office said that there was 'no way in hell' she would sign a bill awarding law enforcement agencies $2,500 for every arrest that leads to a deportation that was touted by Republicans, in part, as aiming to financially enable law enforcement officials to keep communities safe. Still, with the 2026 election looming and amid attacks that she's soft on the border from Republicans, Hobbs has recently shifted to the right on immigration policy. In January, she took to social media to applaud the passage of the Laken Riley Act in Congress. The new federal law, which prompted criticism from immigrant rights advocates, mandates the indefinite detention, without bail, of undocumented people who are accused of low-level crimes like shoplifting even before they've been convicted. Hobbs' praise raised alarms among immigrant advocates, who fear it's a sign the Democrat might be willing to approve some hostile border security bills at the state level. A spokesman for her office didn't respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the governor's stance on the bill. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
