Arizona Voters Approve Ballot Measure Giving State and Local Law Enforcement Greater Authority in Immigration Matters

Arizona voters approved a controversial ballot measure that will give state and local law enforcement greater authority to enforce immigration-related laws typically left to the federal government, NBC News projects.

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The lengthy ballot measure makes a number of changes to state law related to immigration. It makes it a state crime for a migrant who is in the country illegally to submit false information to apply for a job or a public benefit; enter the state from a foreign country outside of a lawful port of entry; or refuse to return to their home country if required to do so by a court. The measure also requires a court to kick out migrants convicted of illegal entry, allowing state and local law enforcement to deliver them to federal custody.

While much of that is already illegal under federal law, these changes would allow state and local police officers, as well as courts, to take these matters into their own hands amid Republican clashes with the Democratic White House over immigration and border security.

The measure also makes it a specific crime to sell fentanyl that causes a death, and it shores up the use of E-Verify, the federal database that checks whether someone is eligible to work in America.

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