The Arizona governor, Katie Hobbs, has vetoed a bill that would have made crossing the border a misdemeanor crime in her state, giving law enforcement the opportunity to apprehend individuals and report them to federal authorities for potential deportation. 

In a letter announcing her veto on Monday, Ms. Hobbs says that the legislation would have led to “costly and protracted litigation.”

“This bill does not secure our border, will be harmful for communities and businesses in our state, and burdensome for law enforcement personnel and the state judiciary system,” she says. 

The bill’s sponsor, state senator Janae Shamp, says that the legislation, if enacted, would have given law enforcement more tools to keep dangerous individuals out of Arizona. 

“Right now, law enforcement can’t do their jobs to protect our citizens from the overwhelming cases of human smuggling, child sex trafficking, rapes, murders, deadly fentanyl, high-speed chases, and other heinous acts carried out by the large numbers of criminals allowed to freely enter our country through the Arizona-Mexico border,” she said on the Senate floor in February. 

The legislation would have made crossing the border a level one misdemeanor in the state, which carries a maximum penalty of six months in state prison. The offense charge could also be raised to a felony based on other circumstances, according to Courthouse News Service.

No Democrats voted for the measure in the legislature.

After the veto was made, the state senate Republican conference said in a press release that the governor “irresponsibly vetoed critical legislation today that would have provided law enforcement the ability to protect Arizonans from heinous crimes associated with Joe Biden’s border invasion.””

“The Legislature did its job to protect our citizens, but Governor Hobbs failed to do hers,” Ms. Shamp says. “Vetoing the Arizona Border Invasion Act is a prime example of the chaos Hobbs is unleashing in our state while perpetuating this open border crisis as Biden’s accomplice.”

In Texas, Governor Abbott is taking the opposite path and is now winning the scorn of the White House. 

On Monday, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to block Texas’ Senate Bill 4, which would allow state and local law enforcement to detain, arrest, and prosecute non-citizens for the crime of illegal entry or reentry. The law was due to take effect on Tuesday, but was halted by a federal district court judge before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to allow the law to take effect during the appeals process. 

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in an order on Monday night that the law can no longer take effect, and the justices will consider the merits of the case over the coming days. Texas has until Monday to plead its case to the court, which will then make a decision by March 13.