PHOENIX — Saying the state can’t legally deport criminal immigrants, a Senate panel on Monday took what one lawmaker said is the next best step: Ensure they serve more time in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ prisons for the crimes they commit here.
SB 1279 says judges sentencing someone convicted of a felony must impose at least the “presumptive sentence†required by law if the person is in this country illegally. That means more time behind bars — sometimes years longer — than what is now an option for judges.
Potentially more significant, the measure approved on a 5-3 party-line vote by the Committee on Commerce and Public Safety eliminates the possibility of parole.
Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, ushered a similar measure through the Senate last year before it died in the House. Smith said he is hoping this slightly altered version meets a better fate.
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But the legislation also comes amid a sea-change at the federal level with the Trump administration focusing new attention on immigration.
That point did not go unnoticed by Steve Ronnebeck, whose 21-year-old son, Grant, was working the graveyard shift at a Mesa convenience store in January 2015 when he was shot and killed, apparently for not giving someone his cigarettes fast enough.
“We have several cities in our country that are defying the president,†Ronnebeck told committee members, referring to Trump’s directive that “sanctuary cities†will lose federal dollars. Ronnebeck was present in Washington when Trump signed the executive order.
“Let’s send a message that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s going to be different and we’re going to set the bar,†he said.
According to police, the man arrested was in the country illegally, had been convicted of burglary in 2012 and was placed on probation. A judge had ordered immigration officials be notified of his conviction.
According to Smith, had this law been in effect in 2015, the person would not have had an opportunity to kill Grant because the judge would have had to sentence the person to at least two years in prison, if not more, for the earlier crime.
Smith made no bones that he is targeting illegal immigrants, but he said there is nothing racist about it. Smith said the enhanced sentencing would apply to anyone in this country illegally, regardless of where they came from.
Will Gaona, an attorney with the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the legislation is illegal. He said it effectively becomes a state court imposing a punishment on someone because of a violation of federal law.