Yuma, Arizona (azfamily) – Yuma’s law enforcement spoke with Arizona families on Thursday about Proposition 314. It is modelled on Texas law, which allows local and state police to enforce immigration laws.

Currently, immigration is enforced at the federal level.

If voters pass Proposal 314illegally crossing a border is a national crime and is enforced by state and local law enforcement agencies.

This action allows state judges to order deportation.

That’s what police chiefs of both Yuma and Summerton said was the federal government’s fault.

“Enforcing federal law is not our job as local police officers.” Thomas Garity, Chief of Police, Yuma.

There are also concerns about tense resources and overcrowding at the county jail.

“We’re going to book them in jail. It’s going to remove resources from our streets. We’ll need resources from the community,” he said. Summerton Police Chief Araceli Juarez.

Border security measures will also strengthen penalties for fentanyl trafficking. That’s part of the proposition that Yuma police said he supports.

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“Someone should get in jail and make sure they never let fentanyl go traffic. I agree with that,” Garity said.

He acknowledges immigration is a complicated issue. He worked at the Virginia Police Department when the state passed its first anti-immigration resolution in 2007.

“The police had to ask people what their immigrant status,” Garity said.

Garity said they lost some of the public’s trust and it took them a while for the public to adjust.

“When the law was passed, the Hispanic community was surprised, but after we showed that as police we think that we are a fair, legal and constitutional way of treating people, they said, “Who do we do? I realized that he wouldn’t be single either.” Garity.

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Chief Juarez worries that Proposition 314 can discourage crime victims without adequately documenting crime reports.

“The victims are already struggling to move forward. If the victims can’t come to us, we can’t help them,” Juarez said.

Now, it’s up to Arizonans to decide.

With the fate of props looming, the Chief Garrison wants the community to know that local police won’t target people.

“We’re not going out there, we just ask people questions because someone thinks they’re illegally immigrants here,” he said.

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