The Biden administration announced new immigration policies that aim to streamline the path to citizenship for longtime US residents like “Dreamers,” or undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children.
The Arizona Senate approved a proposed ballot measure that would ask voters in November to make it a state crime for noncitizens to enter the state through Mexico at any location other than a port of entry.
The local painter’s union hall in Phoenix was filled with volunteers, immigration lawyers, and applicants for naturalization.
The bill offered no logistical or humanitarian solutions to address issues at the US-Mexico border, and instead focused mainly on punishment and incarceration.
Lawmakers used a procedural maneuver to sidestep public comment on the bill after more than 100 business owners and community leaders spoke out against it.
The Arizona governor recently created a new border security office with funds from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act.
