AZ: GOP's 'Secure the Border' plan will cost at least $325 million a year [View all]

[RandySF]

A Republican-backed plan to convince voters to duplicate federal immigration enforcement by letting police officers arrest migrants and Arizona judges deport them could end up costing the state at least $325 million every year.

GOP lawmakers in the state legislature, angry at Gov. Katie Hobbs’ refusal to approve their border policies, moved this week to send a series of rejected proposals to the November ballot in the hopes that voters will greenlight them instead.

Dubbed the “Secure the Border Act,” the wide-ranging legislation package makes it a state crime to for migrants to cross the border anywhere but at a port of entry, criminalizes undocumented Arizonans who submit false information to apply for jobs or public benefits, and drastically enhances the prison sentences for people who’s sale of fentanyl later results in an overdose death.

On Thursday, the Grand Canyon Institute, a non-partisan think tank, released a report estimating that the legislation has the potential to cost Arizona taxpayers at least $325 million every year it’s enforced — and possibly much more.





https://azmirror.com/2024/05/09/gops-secure-the-border-plan-will-cost-at-least-325-million-a-year-report/