Authorities in Arizona border towns have a new immigration mandate, and are gearing up to enforce it — but also warn they need more funding for what has traditionally been a federal responsibility.
CNN has projected Proposition 314 will pass with 63% approval as of Thursday. The proposition allows local and state law enforcement in Arizona to arrest migrants and criminalize unauthorized crossings anywhere but an official port of entry. In short, it makes violations of immigration law a state crime — rather than only a federal offense.
It also increases the punishment for selling fentanyl that results in the death of a person.
Emmanuel Botello, a San Luis police lieutenant, told CNN affiliate KTVK/KPHO enforcing the mandate will require more federal funding.
“We’re not aiming to particularly send units out there to be targeting or specifically looking for illegals,” Botello said. “We’ll continue to prioritize protecting life, protecting property of our residents, it will continue to be at the top of our priorities.”
Some context: The measure adds another dimension to the long-running debate over border security in a state that shares a 370-mile border with Mexico.
Proponents say the measure would curb illegal immigration and cut down on crime perpetrated by migrants, stepping in where the federal government has failed. Meanwhile, critics argue that the it would result in racial profiling and unlawful policing, be costly for the state and strain law enforcement resources.
The proposal is similar to Texas’ controversial immigration law known as SB 4, which has been blocked from going into effect as a legal challenge plays out in court.
3 hr 24 min ago
How experts warn Trump could use an authoritarian playbook to go after the media
From CNN’s Hadas Gold
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to go after much of the media in his second term, threatening to jail journalists, revoke broadcast licenses and target outlets with a flurry of lawsuits. It’s a playbook he’s threatened to use before.
During his first term in the White House, Trump regularly tangled with journalists, assailed the press as the “enemy of the people,” and banned reporters from official briefings. In recent months on the campaign trail, Trump employed dark and violent rhetoric to attack the media — telling a crowd this week that he wouldn’t mind if journalists got shot — and sparking fears he will attempt to weaponize the government against the free press.
Experts on authoritarian leadership in Europe say that in a second term, enabled by more loyalists and fewer guardrails around him, Trump could do extensive damage to press freedom in the United States. A look at some countries in Europe, where Democracy is “backsliding” portends how it can happen.
Sharon Moshavi, president of the International Center for Journalists, said that in countries that have experienced a dismantling of the free press, “It’s not one thing — it’s not ‘we’re going to jail journalists.’”
Governments around the world controlled by authoritarians and strongmen, including Russia, Hungary, India, and until recently, Poland, have moved to muzzle the free press and crush dissent, she said. Trump has praised the leaders of many of these nations, especially Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán.
“It’s death by a thousand cuts. It’s attacks from multiple angles,” she said.
Read more on experts’ warning here.
