Governor Katie Hobbs claimed last week the “Secure the Border Act” proposed by Republicans in the Arizona State Legislature would drive businesses to neighboring California and Texas, though she did not acknowledge the similar law signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in December 2023.
Hobbs claimed the effort by Republicans, which would allow Arizona voters to decide whether to pass legislation that would make it a state crime to enter Arizona illegally, increase penalties for submitting false information to E-Verify and help prevent illegal immigrants from receiving Arizona welfare programs, would “demonize communities” and send businesses to Texas during a media appearance reported by KTAR News.
“It will drive businesses out of the state and send jobs to Texas and California,” claimed Hobbs before comparing it to the controversial SB 1070 from 2010. She claimed, “We’re going to end up right back in that same place.”
Despite claiming she understands “Arizona’s frustration with the lack of federal action on the border and the failure to secure the border,” she insisted, “2060 is not the answer to that.”
Hobbs claimed the legislation would drive businesses to Texas despite the state adopting in December legislation that Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said is “very, very similar” to the “Secure the Border Act.”
That legislation, Texas’s SB 4, “creates a mandatory ten-year minimum prison sentence for smuggling of persons and continuous smuggling of persons,” according to Abbott’s office, which explained the legislation also “enhances the criminal penalties for the operation of a stash house,” as well as punishments for “victim-related offenses that occurred during the commission of smuggling, such as assault and burglary.”
In a recent NewsNation appearance, Dannels argued the primary difference between the Texas law and the proposed Arizona referendum is executive support.
“It’s very, very similar to Texas. It has a fentanyl component to it, it is very similar,” Dannels explained. “The difference is, the Texas Governor was part of authoring that bill, our governor is not part of authoring this bill. So they have executive support in that state, I’m not sure our governor is going to support this.”
Despite the lack of support from Hobbs, the sheriff said he supports the “spirit” of the bill while expressing concerns about funding it.
He explained, “The reason we’re even discussing that at a state level, the reason we’re trying to intervene at a state level, is because the federal government has abandoned us. I hate to be so cold with that but it’s true.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Katie Hobbs.
