Arizona voters will be able to decide this November whether to approve a measure that would make it a state crime for migrants to cross the Mexico border into Arizona other than through an official US entry point, the state supreme court has ruled.
If the controversial new law, currently known as Proposition 314, wins voters’ favor when they cast their ballots in the presidential election, Arizona would empower local law enforcement officials to arrest and prosecute suspected violators. State judges would also be allowed to issue de facto deportation orders.
Crossing into the US outside of an official port of entry is already a federal crime. But several Republican-led states have sought to also make it a state offense, giving them greater power to crack down on migration, but putting them on a collision course with the federal government.