Arizona Republican lawmakers want to put a bounty on 'criminal illegal aliens'

By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- State lawmakers voted Thursday to put a bounty on the capture and deportation of those not here legally.
And the plan is to pay those rewards with a fee targeting anyone in the state who is sending money back to a home country or anywhere else outside the United States.
Sen. Jake Hoffman who crafted the measure said it's a matter of fairness to legal Arizonans.
"There are hundreds of millions of dollars every year being sent to foreign nations by criminal illegal aliens and criminal enterprises, like drug traffickers, sex traffickers and human traffickers,'' the Queen Creek Republican said.
The 4-3 vote for SB 1111 by the Senate Government Committee came over the objection of Sen. Flavio Bravo.
"If people have worked hard and earned this hard-earned money, I don't see anything wrong with supporting loved ones overbroad ... regardless of their immigration status,'' said the Phoenix Democrat.
Hoffman, however, said that ignores economic impact.
"Hundreds of millions of dollars are being sent out of our economy to the economy of foreign nations by those who are in this country illegally, who have broken our laws and are now exploiting the benefits of this great economy, the benefits of this great nation, to prop up failing foreign governments,'' he said.
Sen. Lauren Kuby, D-Tempe, said what's not being considered is that those not here legally paid $766 million in taxes. Hoffman, however, said that doesn't make a dent in the $1.9 billion a year he said is being shipped to Mexico each year.
"This seeks to recover a portion of that economic impact,'' he said, though he did not dispute that some of that may be being sent by those who are citizens or here legally.
But the objections were not just to the levy but to how the proceeds would be used.
SB 1111 would create what Hoffman has dubbed an "illegal alien remittance fee.''
Anyone wring up to $500 would have to pay an additional $25. Larger transfers would have a fee of $25 plus 5% of the excess.
The proceeds -- Hoffman estimates the fees would bring in about $30 million a year -- would go into the newly created Arizona Deportations Fund.
Those dollars, in turn, would be given out to law enforcement agencies at $2,500 a pop for each person who they have arrested is deported once Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms that a law enforcement officer had "direct involvement in apprehending an illegal alien.''
That got the attention of Noah Schramm of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
"This creates a financial incentive to prioritize immigration enforcement over other public safety priorities,'' he said. "And it encourages officers to target individuals based on their perceived immigration status -- how they look, how they sound -- rather than evidence of wrongdoing
Schramm pointed out there is no other similar arrangement to pay law enforcement based on the number of any specific type of arrests they make.
"The reason is because we want law enforcement to focus on overall public safety,'' he said. "If you allocate funding based on specific enforcement actions you are going to powerfully incentivize those enforcement actions, whether or not they meaningfully improve public safety.''
And Kuby asked whether all of this would encourage police, acting without a warrant, to start picking up those they believe are not here legally.
Hoffman countered that nothing in the bill changes anything about how law enforcement operates or directs police to change how they do their jobs. Instead, he said, it's about using the money now being exported for needed purposes here.
"This bill seeks to claw back some of those hard-earned dollars so that they can get reinvested into these communities,'' Hoffman said. And to the extent it discourages people from sending money to Mexico and elsewhere, he said that's a good thing because it will help stimulate the Arizona economy.
Hoffman's original proposal would have those $2,500 rewards shared with the individual officer. But he told Capitol Media Services he agreed to remove that amid concerns by police agencies they need "to be able to say they are impartially enforcing the law.''
Still, Hoffman said it makes sense to direct the fees charged to law enforcement "and reinvest it into supporting our law enforcement in the process of partnering with the federal government to assist in deporting criminal illegal aliens.''
Kuby was not convinced.
"Not only is this the ugliest bill I've seen all session,'' she said.
"It's the ugliest bill I've seen in Arizona since I've been a resident,'' Kuby said. "It's a racist bill.''
As crafted. anyone who sends money to Mexico -- or anywhere else -- would have to pay the fee. But Hoffman crafted it in a way to hold financially harmless those here legally.
A separate provision provides a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit for the amount that someone pays in the foreign transmission fees. Those who don't file tax returns -- presumably because they do not have a social security number --would have no way to recoup the fees.
That's where the estimated $30 million net comes from.
The chances of SB 1111 ever actually becoming law are pretty much nil. Christian
Slater, the press aide to Gov. Katie Hobbs, said "there's no way in hell'' she will sign it.
"Arizonans want border security,'' he said. "They don't want to turn hard-working law enforcement officers into bounty hunters.
But Slater said at least part of the governor's objection is how the program wold be funded. He called it "a tax hike ... that puts a bounty on the head of innocent people who have worked hard, paid taxes, and lived in their communities for decades.''
Senate Democrats, in their own social media post, said Hoffman's legislation "creates a new wage slave patrol for undocumented immigrants working and paying taxes in our state.''
And with Democrats solidly opposed, there's no possibility of a gubernatorial override.
Hoffman took a swat at the governor for opposing SB 1111 because it would be a tax increase.
"Katie Hobbs has never met a tax-hike on law-abiding American citizens she didn't support,'' he said. "Yet when the fee is targeted at criminal illegal aliens she is suddenly opposed.''
Slater, however, said that misstates the record, saying Hobbs has never supported any sort of tax hike since she became governor in January 2023.
He said, though, he could not address what bills she may have supported in the eight years she was a state legislator, including four years as Senate minority leader.
Less clear is whether there would still be ways for individuals to avoid paying the new transfer fee, even if those here legally would get that income tax rebate.
Other non-wire services like Zelle do not work for international transfers. But PayPal says it does offer the services through its Xoom affiliate.
What Hoffman is proposing is not new.
Oklahoma has had a 1% fee since 2009, with a $5 minimum. The most recent data available says that state is collecting about $13 million a year.
Similar legislation is pending in Pennsylvania.
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