Arizona governor vetoes bill requiring local officials to help with federal immigration efforts

PHOENIX (AP) — Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Friday vetoed a Republican-backed bill intended to support the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown by requiring local and state officials in Arizona to cooperate with federal enforcement efforts.

Under the proposal, local and state officials couldn’t prohibit or restrict cooperation with federal immigration efforts or block the use of federal databases and grant funds related to immigration enforcement.

It also would force cooperation on immigration detainers — requests from the federal government to hold onto people already in state custody until immigration authorities could pick them up.

“I will continue to work with the federal government on true border security, but we should not force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington,” Hobbs said in her veto letter.

Supporters say the measure is needed to ensure federal authorities can safely and more easily take custody of immigrants, rather than having to track them down later after they have already been released from state prisons or county jails.

Opponents say the state should leave immigration enforcement to the federal government and that the cooperation required in the bill would be expensive for local governments to carry out and would harm the cooperation local police get from people in immigrant communities.

They also point out that immigration laws passed by the Arizona Legislature in the past have led to legal problems, such as a 2013 racial profiling verdict against then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office for his signature traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.

Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican from Gilbert, said his proposal aims to ensure that Arizona is a “partner and not an obstacle” where President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts are concerned.

Under the bill, state prisons and county jails would be required to enter agreements with Washington to temporarily house people with detainers. Local agencies would be required to comply with detainers and tell judges who are determining bail when a given individual has an immigration detainer.

The bill would also require Arizona’s attorney general to investigate alleged violations of the cooperation rules and let the attorney general sue to bring an agency into compliance. Supporters say state-shared revenues to local government could be withheld until compliance is reached.

Arizona’s landmark 2010 immigration law also addressed the issue of state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The law bars state and local governments from limiting the enforcement of federal immigration law and lets residents sue over alleged violations.

State officials, immigrant rights advocates and an association representing counties say they are unaware of any such lawsuits being filed in the nearly 15 years since it was signed into law.

A little over a year ago, Hobbs vetoed a bill that would have made it a state crime for noncitizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry. The Republican-led Legislature then bypassed the governor and voted to put a similar measure on the November 2024 ballot, which then won approval from voters.

Since Trump won a second term, Hobbs promised to work with his administration on issues like combating fentanyl trafficking, but has acknowledged the worries some families feel about the immigration crackdown.

Hobbs has vowed to veto all bills sent to her in a standoff with the Legislature until there is a compromise on funding for a state agency that provides services for people with developmental disabilities.

GOP lawmakers say Hobbs has mismanaged agency funds. Hobbs counters that Republicans are leveraging the crisis for “political warfare.” She has said she is willing to veto even bills that she supports.

Jacques Billeaud, The Associated Press