PHOENIX (CN) — Republican lawmakers crashed an access to contraception press conference to confront Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs about the ongoing border crisis.
“I don't think we should be talking about any kind of reproductive things when we have people and children dying right now on the border,” state Senator Janae Shamp of Surprise said after the Thursday morning press conference.
Hobbs joined two Democrats, state Senator Priya Sundareshan of Tucson and state Representative Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton, sponsors of mirror bills Senate Bill 1362 and House Bill 2678, known collectively as the Arizona Right to Contraceptives Act, in calling out Republican lawmakers for refusing to hear the bills.
Each was assigned to a committee in January, but neither received a hearing.
“My Republican colleagues couldn’t even bring themselves to put this bill on an agenda,” Sundareshan said on the Senate lawn, “and I found that cowardly.”
Republican state Senators Sonny Borrelli of Lake Havasu and Wendy Rogers of Flagstaff scoffed from behind TV cameras. While Hobbs spoke, they held signs that said “Biden’s border crisis is destroying America” and “Arizonans deserve safer communities.” Shamp late joined them.
The three went unacknowledged until a reporter asked Hobbs what she’d like to hear President Joe Biden say about the border during Thursday night’s state of the union address.
“I would like to hear him say that securing our border is a priority, that he’s hearing from states like Arizona about how much we need support from the federal government," she said, "and I’d like to see him push again for the bill in Congress that would have done a lot to secure our border that Congress failed to pass.”
U.S. Senate Republicans killed a bill in February that would have allocated $20 billion to improving border security; given Biden authority to shut the border down when daily crossings reach a certain limit; and expedited the asylum review process. The bill also would have provided $60 billion to Ukraine, $10 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and $14 billion to Israel, prompting independent Senator Bernie Sanders to vote no, citing the more than 30,000 Palestinians that Israel has killed so far in Gaza.
“Got any answer for the Republicans here with their signs?” a reporter asked, prompting Hobbs to acknowledge the group.
“Arizonans do deserve safer communities,” Hobbs said. “That’s why I’ve sent the national guard to the border. That’s why I’ve allocated tens of millions of dollars to local law enforcement to help keep their communities safe.”
“Then why would you veto a bill that they supported unanimously?” Shamp interjected, referring to SB 1231, which Hobbs vetoed on Monday,
“They did not support that bill,” Hobbs replied.
Known as the Arizona Border Invasion Act, the bill would have made it a state crime for foreign nationals to cross the Arizona-Mexico border anywhere other than a legal port of entry, giving local law enforcement authority to arrest those that cross illegally. Only federal law enforcement has that authority right now.
Hobbs called it and other Republican immigration bills “anti-immigration” and “anti-business,” in a February statement, and said in her Monday veto letter that it wouldn’t secure the border and instead would pose constitutional concerns.
The bill passed both the Arizona House and Senate on party-line votes.
“I’m always surprised when good legislation that was worked on so diligently to protect the citizens of Arizona,” Shamp said after the press conference. “Communities are suffering all across the country.”
She called the U.S. House bill that Hobbs lamented a “Band-Aid on a gushing, bleeding wound.”
“And I was actually insulted by the whole thing, because they were giving three times as much money to Ukraine in that bill than they were giving to the United States of America,” she continued.
Republican state Representatives Steve Montenegro of Goodyear and Joseph Chaplik of Scottsdale sponsored mirror bills in the House.
“We’re gonna keep sending it,” Shamp said. “We’re gonna keep giving her the opportunity to do the right thing for Arizonans.”
Shamp said the legislation would stop the “public health crisis” of fentanyl flowing across the border. But research repeatedly shows that most fentanyl is coming from Mexico to the U.S. via legal ports of entry on the backs of U.S. citizens — not migrants.
“We’re able to stop citizens because of the laws in this country for you to have that data,” Shamp replied. “But what we don’t have is the data of all of the things that the police on the border are telling us about.”
She repudiated fears that the legislation would encourage racial profiling, as local law enforcement could harass those who don’t “look” American. “There’s no reason that someone’s going to get arrested based on their looks,” she said. “If there are bad actors, there are bad actors and they need to be dealt with.
“But inaction kills people," Shamp continued. "Fear of a ‘what-if’ is killing people.”
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