Arizona Dem Gov Katie Hobbs vetoes ICE Act mandating local cooperation with feds on deportations

( Post Millennial )

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have required state and local law enforcement and officials to work with federal immigration officials on border and deportation actions. The bill, which passed the Republican-controlled legislature before heading to Hobbs' desk, was fiercely debated in the state.

Democrat lawmakers in Arizona thanked Hobbs for refusing to allow the bill to become law. "Thank you @GovernorHobbs for the veto on SB1164! Racial profiling, sowing division, fear and trampling on due process rights should have no place in Arizona," they said in a post.

The bill, Senate Bill 1164, was sponsored by Senate President Warren Petersen and would have required local law enforcement as well as state agencies to cooperate and assist with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities, including in the identification, detainment, and deportation of illegal immigrants in the border state.

The bill also stated that no city or town in the state could enact so-called "sanctuary city" policies that prevent law enforcement from aiding the feds in immigration enforcement. Arizona, with a population of about 7.6 million people, has an undocumented population of about 275,000.

The state legislature could overturn Hobbs' veto with a two-thirds majority. Republicans in the state believe that it is imperative that local officials and police aid the federal government in the area of immigration to ensure that the rule of law is upheld and illegal immigration is quelled in the state.

After President Donald Trump won re-election in November, Hobbs said that the state would "not be participating in misguided efforts that harm our communities." She was asked if she did not want the removal of illegal immigrants, and replied: “Well, I think that those efforts are going to divert needed resources that we need here on these drug interdiction and smuggling and trafficking efforts to keep harm out of our communities. We need those resources here.”

She said mass deportations would create a "diversion of law enforcement from the work that they do everyday to keep our community safe.”

Many states have passed laws making it illegal for local law enforcement to aid federal law enforcement. Border czar Tom Homan has said that federal law enforcement agents would conduct their deportation activities in the country, enforcing existing laws, with or without local help. He's also said he's open to prosecuting local elected leaders who refuse to aid ICE.

Those states that have these policies include California, Illinois, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, and New York. Not all of them have the same policies, but all object to allowing undocumented immigrants who have no legal standing in the United States to be deported.