PHOENIX — State Senator Analise Ortiz is facing an ethics investigation and calls for expulsion from the Arizona Senate after she reshared a post that included the location of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation.
This week, State Senator Jake Hoffman, R-LD12, formally asked for an ethics investigation into Ortiz, hoping it would lead to her expulsion.
"I think it's a clear violation of that oath of office," Hoffman told ABC15.
In August, Ortiz, D-LD24, re-shared a post on Instagram from another account, with the post reading "Alert: ICE activity near Southwest Elementary," and naming the location and time of the activity. Ortiz has stood by her decision to share the post.
"We all have a right as United States citizens to share about publicly available information of things we are seeing in our community," she said.
Hoffman admitted there likely wouldn't be enough votes to expel Ortiz from the Senate, but he insisted she must face repercussions.
"If Senator Ortiz wants to be a radical open borders activist, she's perfectly well and able to be that in her personal private capacity," he said. "However, as a member of the Arizona legislature, we're held to a higher standard."
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Hoffman said Ortiz doxed the agents by alerting the public to ICE operations and putting agents in danger.
When asked how posting about ICE activity was any different than posting about other law enforcement activity, Hoffman said "when you expose a covert drug bust that puts the lives of law enforcement at risk, it warns the criminal drug dealers. It's no different in this situation."
Ortiz compared her repost to using the Waze app to report speed traps and other activity.
"Masked, armed men showed up at a school in our community, and I simply re-shared a post to let my Instagram followers know," she added. "The fact that Republicans are now asking for me to be kicked out of the Senate for simply observing what was happening in my community shows the levels they are willing to go to shut down speech and to enable authoritarianism."
Over the years, numerous Arizona legislators have faced ethics complaints. In only a handful of cases has it ended their time in office, including the expulsions of Liz Harris in 2023 and Don Shooter in 2018. In recent years, Rep. Leezah Sun and David Stringer resigned as they faced ethics investigations.
If Ortiz isn't expelled, Hoffman wants her to lose her office space, be kicked off of her committees, and to see her staff taken away. The head of the Senate Ethics Committee is promising a thorough review of the facts.
