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YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — Two organizations filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the most controversial section of Arizona’s voter-approved “Secure the Border Act,” arguing the measure would improperly shift immigration enforcement from the federal government to the state and could lead to racial profiling and unlawful arrests.
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The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Arizona on behalf of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, challenges Section 5 of Proposition 314, which voters passed in 2024. The provision would allow local and state law enforcement to question, arrest and detain people suspected of entering the country unlawfully. The groups say that enforcement belongs exclusively to the federal government.
“It is essentially a state immigration scheme,” the group said, describing the provision as allowing law enforcement to “question, arrest, detain” people they suspect entered the country unlawfully.
Section 5 had been on hold while similar laws were challenged in other states, but it is now set to take effect. Victoria Lopez, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona, said the groups are asking a judge to immediately block the provision, arguing it violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Lopez said enforcement could increase racial profiling if officers rely on subjective factors to decide who they believe may not have legal status.
“What we’ve seen with these types of state laws is that it increases incidents of racial profiling across communities,” Lopez said.
The legal challenge comes more than a decade after Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 — the state’s 2010 “show me your papers” law — sparked a national debate and multiple lawsuits. The ACLU of Arizona and the U.S. Department of Justice challenged that law, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately struck down most of it while allowing some portions to remain in effect.
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“The Supreme Court in that case decided that most of the Arizona law was unconstitutional, but some parts of it still survived,” Lopez said.
Lopez said the groups also filed for a temporary restraining order, seeking a quick court hearing and a pause on enforcement while the case moves forward. She added the provision would not be retroactive but urged people to understand their rights if it takes effect.
Without court intervention, local and state agencies could begin enforcing Section 5 as early as July 14, according to the groups.
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