Arizona voters approve GOP-backed immigration measure

This piece originally appeared as part of NPR's live coverage of the 2024 election. For more election coverage from the NPR Network head to our live updates page.

PHOENIX – Arizona voters passed a Republican-backed plan to give state and local law enforcement the power to enforce immigration laws, over the objections of Democrats and Latino advocacy groups who warn the law will lead to racial profiling.

State lawmakers referred Prop. 314 to the ballot after a similar measure was vetoed earlier this year by Arizona’s Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs. Critics of the proposal compared it to SB 1070, the controversial immigration law passed in 2010 that was partially overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But the measure approved Tuesday proved popular with voters fed up with what they see as the federal government’s failure to secure the border.

It’s already illegal under federal law to cross into the United States from Mexico outside of legal ports of entry. But like a bill Texas lawmakers approved last year, sheriffs, local police and state law enforcement would have the authority to arrest migrants for illegal border crossings under Prop. 314.

But the law won’t go into effect immediately.

The Texas measure, SB 4, faces challenges in federal court, and Arizona’s version of law, though approved by voters, won’t be allowed to be implemented unless a court upholds Texas’ right to enforce its own provision.

Some Arizona border sheriffs have warned they’re in no position to enforce the law, given there’s no resources tied to funding the measure.

Separately, Prop. 314 creates new penalties for individuals who use fraudulent documents to obtain employment or public benefits, as well as increase penalties for knowingly selling fentanyl – if it came from outside the U.S. and directly leads to another individual's death.