The State of Arizona today filed in United States District Court a response to the federal government’s Motion to permanently enjoin Arizona’s anti-human smuggling law. Enacted in 2005, A.R.S. § 13-2319, makes it “unlawful for a person to intentionally engage in the smuggling of human beings for profit or commercial purpose.”
The United States government seeks to prevent Arizona from enforcing the statute, alleging that it conflicts with federal law and therefore is unconstitutional. However, to date, the United States has failed to identify a specific instance in which the state’s enforcement of A.R.S. § 13-2319 has interfered with the enforcement of federal law. Governor Brewer and the State of Arizona request that the Court deny the United States’ Motion.
“At the same time the United States government is touring its ‘aggressive campaign to respond to the recent rise in illegal migration’ and its ‘efforts to target and dismantle human smuggling operations across the southwest border,’ it is seeking to prevent Arizona from assisting in this effort,” said Governor Jan Brewer. “Arizona’s law has been in effect and enforced since 2005, and our law enforcement officials have served as a critical force multiplier in combating human smuggling.”
“Although our statute has been in place for nearly 10 years, the United States has not successfully identified any specific example of Arizona law interfering with federal law. Moreover, the Arizona Court of Appeals has already found that Arizona’s smuggling statute is not preempted by federal law. The U.S. government, however, now contends that Arizona’s law is unconstitutional and should be enjoined. If the U.S. government genuinely wants to crack down on human smuggling, it should drop its challenge to Arizona’s law and cooperate with the states in addressing this important issue. If the federal Executive will not do so, Congress should explicitly require it,” concluded the Governor.
Just last week, the AZDI reported that a man and woman were arrested at a Phoenix apartment for holding a 13-year-old Honduran boy hostage while attempting to extort additional smuggling fees from his family.
Frances Salas, 27, a U.S. citizen and resident of Phoenix, and Jesus Millan-Rodriguez, 31, a Mexican national, were booked into the Maricopa County Jail, each charged with kidnapping and possession of marijuana for sale.
HSI special agents were first alerted to the case after a woman contacted HSI in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to report that her son, who had recently been smuggled into the U.S., was being held by smugglers at an unknown location in Phoenix. She said the smugglers were demanding she pay additional smuggling fees and she feared for the boy’s safety.
Special agents and Phoenix Police Department officers discovered the boy in the custody of Salas and Millan-Rodriguez. Agents also discovered a pound of marijuana in a plastic zip-close bag in the apartment.
The boy, who was physically unharmed, was turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Refugee Resettlement, which is the federal agency responsible for the care and custody of unaccompanied alien children (UAC).