‘Sanctuary’ ban plan withdrawn by Arizona GOP

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Republican lawmakers have pulled a proposal to enshrine an existing ban on “sanctuary cities” in the state constitution.

The decision announced late Thursday night came on the eve of a now-canceled House hearing on the plan the Republican governor asked lawmakers to send to voters. A Senate hearing last week erupted in shouting and led to the removal of activists who called the proposal racist.

Republican leaders of the House and Senate and the governor’s spokesman issued similar statements on the decision.

“We can confirm that legislation related to a constitutional ban on sanctuary cities will not receive additional consideration this session — a decision made jointly by legislative leadership and the Governor,” the statement from GOP leaders issued by House majority spokesman Andrew Wilder said. “Sanctuary cities are illegal in Arizona.”

The statement from Ducey spokesman Patrick Ptak said the state will continue to oppose sanctuary policies that shield immigrants caught illegally in the state.

“The governor stands firmly with the people of Arizona in opposition to sanctuary cities, a California-style policy rejected overwhelmingly by voters in Tucson last fall,” the statement said.

The plan announced by Ducey during last month’s State of the State address brought warnings from Democrats about the return to “one of the darkest years in Arizona history” — referring to the 2010 passage of the law known as SB1070, which was designed to crack down on illegal immigration.

The courts upheld the law’s ban on sanctuary policies and its key feature: a requirement that police officers, while enforcing other laws, question the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally. Other provisions of the law — such as a requirement that immigrants carry registration papers — were barred by the courts.

The governor had a testy exchange with reporters earlier Thursday who pressed him on what was a change in his yearslong practice of discouraging divisive immigration legislation. He said he had not changed his stance, and he shrugged off concerns that boycotts and loss of business that followed passage of SB1070 would occur again.

Doug Ducey