Key Points:

• Senate Republicans plan to rerun immigration bills next year

• Measures demand cooperation with federal government and increase enforcement efforts

• Democrats criticize the enforcement’s lack of due process 

Senate Republicans remain determined to support President Donald Trump’s border security efforts despite seeing their immigration related bills vetoed this session.

The Republicans have vowed to either revive the vetoed measures as bills or ballot referrals next year, or potentially wait for the outcome of the 2026 gubernatorial election to see if Arizonans elect a Republican governor who may be more likely to sign the legislation.

Most of the vetoed bills would have required municipalities, law enforcement agencies and other entities to support the federal government’s immigration enforcement operations and prohibit local governments and agencies from hindering those efforts.

Despite the vetoes, Republicans have been galvanized by Trump’s return to office, the passage of Proposition 314 last fall and the promise of mass deportations.

The president’s immigration agenda has taken shape with federal authorities arresting immigrants lacking permanent legal status in cities, including Phoenix, and an expanded military presence along the southern border in Arizona and other states.

Democrats, activists and other organizations questioned the constitutionality of the proposed bills, the role of local law enforcement in enforcing immigration law and the federal government’s enforcement policies in cities and the border. 

“We were concerned about these bills because they were all different ways to support the federal government’s mass deportation efforts,” said Noah Schramm, border policy strategist at the ACLU of Arizona. “And, of course, while deportation is a right the federal government has, the way in which mass deportation has been talked about, the way in which the Trump administration has been going about it, we find to be incredibly problematic for all sorts of reasons.”

Cooperation, detention and deportation
Senate Republicans featured border security as one of their main priorities heading into this legislative session.

One of the first major immigration bills introduced this session was Senate Bill 1164, known as the Arizona Immigration, Cooperation, and Enforcement Act (AZ ICE Act), introduced by Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert.

The bill would’ve allowed law enforcement agencies and other government agencies to enter into memorandums of agreement with federal agencies to enforce immigration laws, including 287(g) agreements, which allow state law enforcement agencies to perform specified functions of federal immigration officers and receive training from the federal government on the scope of those functions.

The bill would have prohibited cities and towns from adopting or enforcing any policies that hinder law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. 

Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the legislation on April 18.

Petersen said at a press conference on April 21 that Republicans were discussing potential next steps, which would include deciding whether the AZ ICE Act could return as a referendum.

“We’re looking at 18 months until the next election, and the governor will be on the ballot,” Petersen said at the time. “So a part of the equation will be: Is the focus going into getting a governor that will sign the bill, or does this go on the ballot?”

Petersen didn’t have an update on a decision but recently said in a text message to “stay tuned.”

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, also dropped a couple of bills that would have supported the federal government’s deportation efforts.

Senate Bill 1294 would’ve required the Arizona Department of Administration to lease a vacant prison in Marana to the federal government for $1 per year, but the bill failed in the House.

Another measure, Senate Bill 1610, would’ve called for county detention facilities to provide personal identifying information of anyone arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, or any other violent crime resulting in death or serious injuries.

Kavanagh said earlier this month, after the veto, that the legislation could return as a ballot measure. 

Two other Republican lawmakers have also said their vetoed bills will likely return next year.

Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, said in a text message that he’ll likely bring back Senate Bill 1088 as a bill or ballot measure. The bill would’ve required cities, municipalities, agencies and government contractors to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. 

And Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, expressed a desire to rerun Senate Bill 1268, a measure that would require hospitals to include a section on admission forms that gives people the option to indicate whether they were lawfully present in the country.

“Vetoes cannot and do not dissuade me from leading on legislation for which my constituents voted me in to represent them,” Roger said in a text message statement through a Senate spokeswoman earlier this month.

All of the Republicans directed heavy criticism toward Hobbs for vetoing their bills.

“You may see a number of the border measures that she vetoed coming back next year for the voters because Gov. Hobbs is totally out of step with the voters on illegal immigration enforcement,” Kavanagh said earlier this month.

In response, Hobbs has touted her work partnering with the federal government to secure the border and stop drug trafficking, but said she didn’t want to place burdens on local law enforcement or have local officials take “marching orders” from Washington, D.C.

“Governor Hobbs has taken real action to keep our communities safe, including working with the federal government to secure the border,” said Christian Slater, spokesman for the governor. “Last year, she announced Task Force SAFE, deploying the National Guard to the border to stop drug smuggling and human trafficking. In coordination with the federal government, that Task Force has stopped over 11 million fentanyl pills and thousands of pounds of illegal drugs.”

ICE arrests and enforcement

As Senate Republicans regroup on border policy, the vetoes haven’t interfered with the federal government’s immigration enforcement around the state.

In Phoenix, ICE agents arrived at the Phoenix immigration court to arrest people over a two-day period beginning May 20 before returning on May 28 to detain more people, according to reports from local media and activist groups.

ICE didn’t answer questions regarding how many people were arrested, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying the agency is targeting individuals who have entered the country within the last two years.

The Homeland Security statement reads: “Most aliens who illegally entered the United States within the past two years are subject to expedited removals. (President Joe Biden) ignored this legal fact and chose to release millions of illegal aliens, including violent criminals, into the country with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. ICE is now following the law and placing these illegal aliens in expedited removal, as they always should have been. If they have a valid credible fear claim, they will continue in immigration proceedings, but if no valid claim is found, aliens will be subject to a swift deportation.”

Kavanagh applauded the agency’s efforts, saying people were making “bogus” asylum claims.

“They were going through a legal process to try to scam the federal government based on their illegal claim of refugee status,” he said.

Democrats have vehemently disagreed with the arrests, questioning the methods for detaining people and a lack of due process for those in custody.

Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, joined a cadre of Democratic lawmakers and activists at the immigration court during the week to protest the arrests.

The legislators collaborated with Puente Arizona and the Borderlands Resource Initiative to train volunteers, inform individuals of their rights, and accompany them to their hearings. 

Ortiz said there are many mixed status families in her district, so she was concerned that some of those constituents could’ve been taken into custody.

“Republicans want to further embolden these masked agents. We don’t even know who they are,” she said. “They are circumventing due process. It should terrify any American. It should terrify any person in the United States. We have a right to due process for a reason.”

Schramm referred to the arrests as an “aggressive tactic” to target people who are trying to navigate the process legally.

“They’re essentially tricking people and taking advantage of the fact that the vast majority of immigrants do attend their court hearings and do want to do things the right way,” he said.

Help from the National Guard

At the border, the federal government has also increased the presence of military personnel in Arizona and other border states.

The U.S. Northern Command activated the Joint Task Force-Southern Border in March, composed of active duty and National Guard military personnel from across the country.

“We are absolutely here working in support of DHS, and so we have our Border Patrol counterparts that we’re working with, kind of throughout the sectors along the southern border, certainly in Arizona,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Sarah Ray, a spokeswoman for the Joint Task Force-Southern Border.

There are more than 8,500 personnel from the U.S. Army, Marines, Navy and other agencies, according to a May 19 press release from the U.S. Northern Command. However, it’s not clear how many of those are stationed in Arizona.

The federal government also established National Defense Areas in Texas and New Mexico, transforming the southern border in those states into military zones.

With the increased military presence, there’s been a sharp decrease in encounters along the border.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded more than 8,300 apprehensions along the southwest border in April, compared to almost 129,000 in April 2024.

Ortiz wasn’t aware of the military presence in Arizona, but knew personnel had been deployed to other states. 

But the mobilization is another example of the country’s “rapid descent into authoritarianism,” she said.

“There should be no other frame on this story than the fact that we are rapidly losing our rights as United States citizens. We are rapidly losing our democracy,” she said. “And this is all part of that.”