Latino advocacy group asks judge to prevent border proposal from appearing on Arizona’s ballot

PHOENIX (AP) — A day after lawmakers voted to put a border proposal on Arizona’s Nov. 5 ballot, a Latino advocacy group and a Democratic legislator filed a lawsuit challenging the measure because it contains an alleged constitutional defect.

In the challenge filed Wednesday, the group Living United for Change in Arizona and Democratic state Rep. Oscar De Los Santos alleged the proposal — which seeks to draw local police into immigration enforcement — violates a rule in the state constitution that says legislative proposals must cover a single subject.

If approved by voters, the proposal would make it a state crime for people to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere except a port of entry, give state and local officers the power to arrest violators and let state judges order people to return to their home countries.

It also would make it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for selling fentanyl that leads to a person’s death and require some government agencies to use a federal database to verify a noncitizen’s eligibility for benefits.

Jim Barton, a lawyer representing the advocacy group, expressed confidence that a court will block the measure from going on the ballot, saying he doesn’t believe a judge will see the measure — as its proponents do — as broadly applying to border issues.

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