Proposal to allow local police to make arrests near Arizona border with Mexico will appear on ballot

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that a proposal that would let local police make arrests near the state’s border with Mexico will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot for voters to decide.

That sets up the biggest push to draw local authorities into immigration enforcement since the state’s landmark 2010 law that required police to question people’s immigration status in certain situations.

The court late Tuesday afternoon rejected a challenge from Latino groups that argued the ballot measure had violated a rule in the state constitution that says legislative proposals must cover a single subject. In an order by Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer, the state’s highest court concluded the measure satisfies the single-subject rule.

If approved by voters, the proposal, known as Proposition 314, would make it a state crime for people to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere except a port of entry, give state and local law enforcement 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. The proposal will go before voters in a state expected to play a crucial role in determining which party controls the White House and the U.S. Senate. Republicans hope it will focus attention on the border and dilute the political benefits Democrats seek from an abortion-rights ballot measure.

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