Sen. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler; Sen. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix; Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson; Senate Minority Leader David Schapira, D-Tempe; and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix have all voted “NO” to a set of important, but highly contested immigration bills (Birthright Citizenship: Senate Bill 308 and SB 1309, Reporting requirements: SB 1405, Immigration Omnibus: SB 1611, ) that went through the Arizona Senate. These measures, for the most part, would have made life much more difficult for illegal aliens residing in Arizona.Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year or so, you’d know that Arizona has put immigration reform at the forefront of political talk shows, websites, and other media.
Many of the Senators that voted down these measures sighted that the bills were “morally reprehensible” and that they would hurt Arizona’s economy. One Senator even went as far as saying that passing the Birthright citizenship bill in particular could even result in a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. Conservative leaders and local Tea Party groups alike are taken back by the actions of their state government (again), considering all of the media attention and efforts made by these groups to support Sen. Russell Pearce and SB 1070.
It’s important to note that this is not over; not by a long shot. As the media has reported, these measures could be proposed as an amendment to an unrelated bill in the near future, or one of the Senators who voted “no” on the measures could ask for a re-vote. Option two sounds unlikely right? Well, maybe not…
The media is downplaying this saying that it’s more likely the measures would return as proposed legislation next session, however, considering that the state Democrats are getting really tired of fighting Republicans on the immigration issue; its much more like that this will appear as a “motion to reopen” or “motion to reconsider”. You see, the Democrats have gotten smarter…okay not smarter, they have gotten sneakier. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who is pro-illegal immigration, had made comments indicating that she might want to motion to reconsider. She understands very well that only a Senator that voted “No” can motion to reconsider the bills. She’s also aware that if these bills fail twice then they cannot be brought back to a vote; more or less killing the measures as they stand. And since a motion to reconsider takes precedence, these bills will not again be reconsidered – killing the movement. So to those that support the anti-illegal immigration position, and to those that understand what these bills are and what they do…you have about two or three days to act. A motion to reconsider could happen as soon as Monday…so I say again, you have 3 legislative days to contact all of the Senators that voted “no” and persuade them to say yes the next time this comes to a vote. If you don’t take action, then consider yourself part of the problem.
Below is a link to the contact information for each Senator that voted “No” on these bills. I would urge you to email, send faxes and call their offices to urge them to cast a “Yes” vote on these measures if presented again as soon as you possibly can.