Republicans say they’re surprised and disappointed in Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for vetoing the Arizona ICE Act, and they may seek to bypass the governor with a ballot referral.
SB 1164 would have blocked state agencies and local governments from adopting policies banning cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
The bill’s sponsor, Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), accused Hobbs of playing political games by vetoing the bill.
He said lawmakers will consider bypassing the governor to put this bill on the 2026 ballot, when Hobbs is also up for reelection.
“We’re looking at 18 months until the next election and the governor will be on the ballot so part of the equation will be: is the focus going into getting a governor that will sign the bill? Or does this go on the ballot with it?” Petersen said at a press conference on Monday.
Hobbs wrote in her veto letter that she supports working alongside the federal government to secure the border, but she doesn’t support forcing state and local officials to comply with all federal immigration policies.
Hobbs also detailed her own work on border security:
“I have worked productively with the federal government to secure our border, stopping fentanyl at our ports of entry through Task Force SAFE, disrupting cartel operations with Operation Desert Guardian, and working across all levels of government to keep communities safe with the Border Coordination Office,” she wrote.
The head of the Arizona Sheriffs' Association said Monday that he and his counterparts in all 14 counties should be forced by state law to hold those they have arrested if they are wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said at a press conference he disagrees with Hobbs’ veto.
The Arizona ICE Act specifically included a mandate that county sheriffs honor "detainer'' requests made by ICE to hold those who have been arrested on state crimes until the federal agency can pick them up.
That is something that sheriffs can do now. And Rhodes said he believes a majority of the sheriffs do comply.
"But you have a handful that are not,'' he said.
Rhodes did not name names. But Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is among those who said his agency will not participate in plans by ICE to conduct mass deportations, including holding those in county jails for anything beyond the state crime for which they were arrested.
That, said Rhodes, is wrong.
"The state should be telling those sheriffs, 'If you have somebody in your custody, and that person has committed crime, particularly violent crime, and they are subject to removal from this country, they must notify the immigration authorities,' '' he said. "I do believe that that is a fair, common sense, piece of legislation and direction that they need to follow.''
Petersen said he’s heard “anecdotes” about detainers not being honored in Arizona, but he’s seen it in the “public domain in other states” and wants to make sure it doesn’t happen here.
Petersen said his bill served a public purpose: allowing immigration officials to take those not here legally into custody at a jail versus agents having to go look for them in the community, a much riskier process.
Petersen indicated that he did not put up the bill as veto fodder.
“I am not interested in ever introducing legislation that I don’t think the governor will sign, as this bill started moving through the process I made amendments,” he said.
Senate Democrats said in a statement that Hobbs’ veto means she is standing for the rule of law.
“In the last 88 days, we have seen Trump illegally disappear hundreds of immigrants without due process. If the Arizona ICE Act was law, our state’s law enforcement would be required to assist in that unconstitutional process,” Democrats wrote. “Trump’s recent actions make it abundantly clear that he believes that he can deport, incarcerate, and disappear any person without legal consequences as long as he does so before the court can intervene.”
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