Arizona GOP proposes ‘sick and evil’ bounty bill targeting immigrant community

A bill proposed by one of the most conservative lawmakers in the Arizona Legislature would create a $2,500 bounty payout to law enforcement officers for every undocumented immigrant deported under their watch.

The bill, proposed by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who heads the far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus, has received criticism for aiming to create a financial incentive for Arizona’s police departments to prioritize immigration enforcement over all other aspects of public safety.

Under Senate Bill 1111, Arizona police departments would be incentivized to target anyone they believe to be an undocumented immigrant—paving the way for widespread racial profiling across the state. 

Noah Schramm, the border policy strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the proposal would prioritize enforcing federal immigration laws over state laws—putting communities at risk. 

Bounty economics

To pay for the bounty, Hoffman proposed an “illegal alien remittance fee” on international wire transfers, that would come out of a new state bank account called the “Arizona Deportations Fund” where money transfer companies would deposit collected fees. 

The fee is $25 for any foreign wire transfer of less than $500, and $25 plus 5% of the amount over $500 for transfers over $500, and taxpayers are able to claim the fee as a credit on their taxes.

READ MORE: Arizona ICE Act would force law enforcement to prioritize mass deportations over general public safety

But it’s unclear if the fees would be enough to cover the expense of the Arizona Deportations Fund. Should Arizona law enforcement aid federal agents in meeting the Trump administration’s quota of 75 deportations per day for immigration field offices, the Arizona Deportation Fund would payout nearly $70 million in bounty fees every year.

The bill also stipulates that funding for the bounties cannot lapse, and requires the Arizona treasurer to payout, meaning the money would have to be taken from elsewhere if the wire transfer fees don’t cover the bill.

‘Twisted and sick and evil’

Lula Haji, policy associate with the Arizona Center for Empowerment said the intent of the bill is to terrorize and cause fear in immigrant communities. 

Hardworking people should not be funding deportations, Haji told The Copper Courier. “I think this is a twisted and sick and evil bill, and that is an understatement.”

This type of rhetoric is a distraction from what people in power are doing, and creates fear of immigrants, Haji said. “Instead, we should be fearful of politicians that are actively working against the working class and the middle class.”

Communities of color will have to live with the consequences of this bill, Haji said. “It is immigrants that wake up and are fearful to live in their neighborhood, that are fearful to go to school, to go to church.”

Spreading fear of immigrants 

Hoffman used the racist “great replacement theory” as reasoning for why his proposal is needed, because “Democratic politicians want illegal aliens to vote, they want illegal aliens to be counted in our census so that the district lines can be drawn in favor of Democratic politicians,” he claimed without evidence.

It is not possible for someone without citizenship to register to vote, therefore, undocumented immigrants cannot vote in American elections. And the US Constitution mandates that the entire United States population be counted. This was reaffirmed when the Three-Fifths Compromise—an agreement that enslaved people only count as a fraction of a person in the census—was repealed in favor of “counting the whole number of persons in each State.”

Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, who often posts pro-Nazi sentiments online, said that the “emotionalism” needs to be removed from the conversation. 

Rogers also invoked nativist terms to describe undocumented immigrants as “invading” the country.

Hoffman does not believe his bill will lead to more widespread racial profiling, calling the sentiment “scary words that are designed to terrify members of certain communities.” 

During debate over the bill, Sen. Lauren Kuby, D-Tempe, shared the story of a 17-year-old student who lives in her district, who lives in fear of getting a phone call from her mom while she’s at school to tell her a family member has been deported. 

“Not only is this the ugliest, most hateful bill I’ve seen this session, it’s the ugliest bill I’ve seen in Arizona since I’ve been a resident,” said Kuby, who has lived in Arizona for 35 years. 

But, even without a law like Hoffman’s, police forces across Arizona have already been found to have discriminated against Black, Hispanic, and Native American people and violated people’s civil rights. 

Instead, Hoffman focused his argument around the money that Arizona supposedly loses each year due to foreign wire transfers sent by undocumented immigrants.

“We are losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year in economic activity to foreign nations,” he said. “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.” 

Immigrants contribute nearly $27.3 billion to Arizona’s economy each year through their earnings alone. 

What is a remittance?

Immigrants often use foreign wire transfer services to send money, or “remittances” to family in their countries of origin.

Sen. Flavio Bravo, D-Phoenix, said there is nothing wrong with sending money to help family who live in another country if that’s what that person want to do with the money they earned—he’s even done it himself, he said, and sent money to his wife who lived in Mexico at the time, before she became a legal permanent resident. 

“The American Dream isn’t just about preparing yourself for success, it’s also about bringing up your family with you, and if people have worked hard and earned this…money, I don’t see anything wrong with them supporting loved ones abroad,” Bravo said. 

The bill could also negatively affect international students studying at an Arizona university who send money to relatives internationally, and travelers passing through the state who send money abroad. 

But for lawmakers like Kuby, even debating the logistics of a wire transfer fee takes away from the core message of the bill. 

“I don’t want to normalize this discussion,” said Kuby. “We’re in a really ugly time in American history.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Sen. Wendy Rogers is not a member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus.