Senator Anna Hernandez
Legislative District 24
Senator Flavio Bravo
Legislative District 26
Representative Analise Ortiz
Legislative District 24
Representative Cesar Aguilar
Legislative District 26
Representative Marcelino Quiñonez
Legislative District 11
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2024
PHOENIX – Last week, the Senate Military Affairs, Public Safety and Border Security (MAPS) committee heard and passed Senate Bill 1231, a bill that would make it illegal for immigrants to enter Arizona at any location other than an official port of entry. This week, the House Judiciary Committee passed the bill’s mirror, House Bill 2821.
“Attacks on immigrants, especially from Latin countries, are nothing new,” said Senator Anna Hernandez (LD24). “These bills are leading our country down a dark road that will increase racial discrimination. A road that, unfortunately, Arizona is already familiar with. As someone who was born and raised in Phoenix, I distinctly remember the days of ‘show me your papers.’ This bill’s language brings up a lot of the thoughts and feelings that I had back then. I am completely against this and promise to keep fighting for an Arizona that treats all its citizens with human decency and compassion. Our focus as lawmakers should be on delivering solutions that address the real issues our communities face each day.”
“Arizona Republicans are following in Texas’ footsteps by introducing unconstitutional legislation that will accomplish nothing except getting our state sued by the U.S. Department of Justice,” added Senator Flavio Bravo (LD26). “These bills are nothing but homegrown bigotry in the place of policy. It is playing into the fear that there is an ‘invasion’ at our southern border, when in reality there is a humanitarian crisis. It is disgusting that at the same time we have this legislation moving candidates for Congress are also attacking Dreamers. We know that the majority of individuals entering our state from other countries are migrants in search for a better life. Instead of passing xenophobic legislation that will end up getting vetoed, our time would be spent finding humanitarian solutions that help law enforcement and migrants alike.”
“These bills create an unconstitutional process where local law enforcement agents are able to detain people suspected of being non-US citizens or entering Arizona from any other country without authorization. This legislation is nothing more than racist political theatre and it threatens our most basic civil rights,” said Representative Analise Ortiz (LD24). “In fact, these bills are one of the most extreme anti-immigration bills the Arizona state legislature has seen since SB1070 – which led to Arizonans being scared to go about their daily life just because of their skin tone or the language that they spoke. Racial profiling should never be tolerated. I will do all that I can to defeat this gross attack on our communities.”
Representative Cesar Aguilar (LD26) said, “Latino communities in Arizona have been a punching bag for Republicans long before the passing of the SB1070 show-me-your-papers bill targeting brown people, which I well remember. Criminalizing a humanitarian crisis is immoral, un-Christian, and un-American. The similar bill passed in Texas has led to the reawakening of the national giant Latino force. SB1231 and HB2821 would interfere with an individual’s legal ability to seek asylum, which is allowed under federal law. It’s time for our legislature to work together to find humane solutions to our immigration issues -- solutions that create a fair system that allows everyone to seek the American Dream like my family did.”
Representative Marcelino Quiñonez (LD11) added, “We know that these bills are unconstitutional and will be vetoed, but we are going through this exercise to provide our colleagues across the aisle with talking points, rather than addressing the real issue at hand. We are looking at a humanitarian crisis, and these bill compounds it by treating every single person who comes across the border, including asylum seekers, as a criminal. If you or your family members were in their situation, if you were hungry, starving, with children to feed, or your life was in danger, you would want the federal government to have the resources, the judges who could do the work and determine if a person is here because of a humanitarian crisis or not. This bill solves nothing, it only divides.”
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