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Left-wing Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs has vetoed a bill passed by the state legislature that would require local and state law enforcement to cooperate with federal Immigration officials.
The Republican-led legislature passed a bill that outlawed local jurisdictions from passing ordinances that would prevent local police from working with federal immigration authorities or block federal immigration actions and funding, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The bill would also have required locals to cooperate on immigration detainers and to inform federal officials about migrants being held in custody or about to be released from jails and prisons.
Supporters of the bill said the measure was needed to help the federal government have a safer and more orderly system of taking foreign criminals into custody for deportation and for state officials to be a “partner, not an obstacle” to federal immigration policies.
But Hobbs insisted in her veto statement that it is wrong to “force state and local officials to take marching orders from Washington.”
The bill would also have required state jails and prisons to enter into agreements with the federal government to temporarily house detainees awaiting deportation.
Further, the bill would require the state to withhold funds from jurisdictions that violate the new law.
Hobbs’ veto runs contrary to polls showing that voters are increasingly leaning towards stricter immigration policies. Last year, for instance, polls showed that 63 percent of Arizonans supported Proposition 314, a measure that would criminalize entering the state illegally. Another poll last year found hat a strong majority felt that the U.S. had lost control over the border under Biden.
And once the dust settled for last year’s elections, Arizonans had sent more Republicans to the state legislature.
In November, Arizona Speaker-elect Steve Montenegro told – News that Arizonans had rejected Gov. Hobbs and Democrats’ agenda by expanding Republicans’ control over the state House.
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