As Donald Trump sweeps back into power with a promise to launch the “largest deportation operation in American history,” Arizona voted to expand the immigration enforcement machinery at his disposal. By a wide margin, voters approved a ballot measure to grant state and local police the authority to arrest undocumented immigrants for crossing the border.
Under current U.S. Supreme Court precedent, only federal agents can enforce immigration laws. But by adopting Proposition 314, Arizona joins Texas and other states in trying to challenge this constitutional limitation. So far, the Biden administration and immigration advocacy groups have blocked these laws in court, and one such challenge is currently awaiting a ruling from a federal appeals court.
“It would take a sea change in constitutional interpretation for the Supreme Court to permit this,” said Lynn Marcus, director of the University of Arizona’s immigration law clinic, of Prop 314 and similar laws. “Because of the constitutional provisions it butts up against, I don’t see foresee the law ever taking effect.”
But Trump has repeatedly said he wants to deputize local police for his plans, and his Justice Department is unlikely to keep standing in the way of states that want their cops to pitch in.
Immigration rights groups have vowed to fight Prop 314 and similar laws in court, even if the Trump DOJ changes course and urges judges to uphold them. It’s shaping up to be one of the earliest legal battles around Trump’s vow to deport millions of people, and possibly the first to reach the Supreme Court during his second administration.
Arizona still has not been called for the presidential race, although it seems Trump will likely take the state after narrowly losing there in 2020. But Prop 314 was quickly called, with more than 60 percent of voters favoring it so far.
“The passage of Prop. 314 will divide Arizona families, and it will pit Arizona neighbors against each other,” said Reyna Montoya, founder of Aliento, a Phoenix-based group that serves undocumented and mixed-status families, in a statement on Wednesday.
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