Arizona voters have installed Proposition 314, also known as the “Secure the Border Act,” into its laws, making it a state crime to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
While the measure has not been called, the “yes” votes far outweigh the “no” votes left to be counted. The law enforcement provisions of Proposition 314 are based on Texas Senate Bill 4, which is currently blocked from taking effect as a federal court determines whether the law violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution.
Arizona Senate President Republican Warren Petersen told the Arizona Republic that President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection lessened the immediate need for state laws such as Arizona’s.
“Now with the new president, it’s kind of irrelevant because we now have the federal government that’s going to enforce the law,” Petersen told the outlet. “As long as the federal government is enforcing the law, we don’t need state government to be spending resources on this.”
