Arizona voters will soon decide whether to give local police the authority to arrest and detain illegal aliens who have crossed illegally into the state from Mexico.
This week, Republicans in Arizona’s state House approved by a party-line 31-29 vote to give voters the ability to decide on Nov. 5 whether state and local law enforcement should be able to arrest illegal aliens for crossing the southern border.
The measure would permit Arizona police to charge illegal aliens with a misdemeanor when they are first arrested and a felony if they are arrested a second time for crossing the border. Judges would be given the power to order illegal aliens deported if convicted of crossing the border.
As Breitbart News reported in March, Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed the Republican-backed measure — claiming it “does not secure the border” and would be “harmful for … businesses” that hire illegal aliens to fill Arizona jobs.
“This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judicial system,” Hobbs said while vetoing the measure.
Today, nearly half a million illegal aliens reside in Arizona.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.