PHOENIX — A controversial bill to allow federal immigration officers at voting locations this year died Friday without a hearing.
A “strike everything” amendment to Senate Bill 1570 would have forced counties to sign agreements with the federal government to allow immigration law enforcement at polling locations for the 2026 general election.
Ricardo Reyes, the executive director of VetsForward, told ABC15 the measure was a clear attempt at voter intimidation.
"It brought back, you know, memories of being in history class and learning about the KKK being at the polls when Black people first started to vote," he said.
The bill was scheduled to be discussed in the Senate Judiciary & Elections panel on Friday.
But six hours after the hearing began, the chair announced SB 1570 would not be heard after all — meaning the measure would miss Friday's deadline to advance out of the committee.
Community members and faith leaders who packed the hearing room to oppose SB 1570 greeted the decision with boos. But they said they are counting it as a win.
"It's a win for today," Stephanie Maldonado, LUCHA political director, told the crowd. "And it's a win that when people show up, show out, we win."
Several of those who planned to testify sang and addressed the crowd after state Sen. Wendy Rogers adjourned the meeting.
"The Hebrew prophets had a word for this bill does," the Rev. Eric Ledermann said. "They call it oppression – the use of power to silence the voices of the vulnerable and of the opposition."
Some not allowed into Senate building
Senate security blocked some people with "Living United for Change in Arizona" from entering the building as the Judiciary & Elections hearing began.
"The Republicans in these chambers are indiscriminately banning people, members of the public, from their buildings, from the people's house, and that is not OK," said Lena Avalos, LUCHA senior policy advisor.
State Sen. Analise Ortiz, who sits on the committee, was outside the Senate, advocating for their entrance.
A spokesperson for Senate Republicans said staff issued trespassing notices to people who refused to stop “prohibited behavior.”
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State law makes it illegal to knowingly disturb or disrupt legislative proceedings.
“These actions were not directed at any organization or viewpoint,” spokesperson Kim Quintero told ABC15 in a statement. “They were based solely on documented conduct that violated established law and rules that apply equally to everyone in the Capitol.”
She said LUCHA as an organization was not issued a trespassing notice, noting that members who complied with Capitol rules weren’t cited.
Avalos disputed that.
"Community members, members of the public, were just told that they cannot come in and that they will be trespassed and handed no official communications," she said, adding that it was undemocratic to close off the chamber to the public.
Activists were ejected from the committee's hearing on Wednesday night when lawmakers were discussing Senate Bill 1635, a bill that would make it illegal to warn someone about an impending arrest.
Senate staff reviewed video from committee hearings and "positively identified" people in violation of the law on Friday and asked them to stop, Quintero said.
"The Arizona Senate is committed to maintaining a safe and orderly environment at the Capitol for lawmakers, staff, members of the media, and the public," she said.
What SB 1570 would have done
SB 1570 would have required county recorders and supervisors to sign agreements with federal immigration law enforcement to allow immigration officers at every polling location and drop box for the 2026 general election.
State Sen. Jake Hoffman, the Republican sponsor, said the legislation was needed to strengthen election security and ensure election laws are consistently enforced.
"Arizonans deserve to know that election laws are not just written in statute but actually enforced in practice," he said in a statement announcing the bill.
Vivian Serafin, a LUCHA spokesperson, told ABC15 on Wednesday that the bill is voter suppression, saying ICE or Border Patrol agents will intimidate Latino and Black voters.
"They're going to be there with weapons at their their waist," she said. "They're going to be there with masks. They're going to be with bulletproof vests. And that in no way fosters a safe environment for voters."
Reyes, a Marine veteran, said friends who served when he did walked people in other countries to the polls to help them feel safe voting.
"And how did we go from that, from us as veterans serving in places where we're trying to make sure people feel safe going to vote in some of these countries to now using these authoritarian-style tactics to oppress voting back in our own country?" he said.
All bills needed approval by a committee by Friday in order to advance, so SB 1570 is effectively dead.
However, the proposal could still return this session if lawmakers in the House introduce it as a strike-everything amendment in that chamber.
Opponents to the bill vowed to return is the proposal is resurrected.
"We will show up," Reyes said. "We will be in the gallery, and we will make sure that they see us, that they hear us, and that they know exactly where we stand."
