Arizona Proposal to Allow Local Police to Make Arrests Near Border to Appear on Ballot

An Arizona Supreme Court ruling green lights the Nov. 5 vote on a proposal that would make it a state crime for migrants to cross the southern border.

Illegal immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.–Mexico border, in Lukeville, Ariz., on Dec. 7, 2023. John Moore/Getty Images

A proposal in Arizona that would make it a crime for migrants to cross the southern border illegally and allow local police to make arrests near the state’s border with Mexico will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 14.

In issuing its ruling, the state’s highest court rejected a challenge from Latino groups who argued the proposal—known as Proposition 314—violates a rule in the state constitution limiting ballot questions to a single subject.