Arizona is at a crossroads

Arizona is on the front lines of the immigration debate. 

Despite being a border state, Arizona has recorded fewer recent immigration arrests than Florida, where state officials have pursued extensive cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Texas has likewise expanded state and local cooperation with federal authorities. Meanwhile, Arizona continues to struggle with immigration enforcement (having fewer deportations than California) and high costs to citizens to subsidize healthcare benefits and in-state tuition for people without lawful immigration status. 

How safe are Arizona communities?

Arizona’s public-safety debates include criminal prosecution, border-related enforcement, attacks on law-enforcement facilities, and the resources available to local, state, and federal law enforcement. California has made it clear they don’t value law enforcement, and the work they do to keep our communities safe.

Arizona families are feeling the squeeze. 

Phoenix-area prices are roughly 33% higher than they were in 2019, while Arizona’s unemployment rate has risen to 4.9%.  

In California, high levels of regulation and restrictions on new development have contributed to some of the nation’s highest housing costs, while aggressive climate commitments are among the factors driving up electricity costs. Today, California home prices are more than twice the national level, and residential electricity rates are close to double those in the rest of the country.  

Meanwhile, Arizona proposals aimed at limiting tax, fee, and utility-rate increases and reducing taxes on groceries have faced political hurdles.

Who should decide what’s best for kids? 

Arizona faces consequential choices over the authority parents have in their children’s education, healthcare, and upbringing. From school choice and DEI policies to gender-transition procedures for minors, policymakers are deciding how authority should be divided among parents, schools, healthcare providers, and government. 

California has sidelined parents from the most important decisions of their children’s lives – allowing minor children to be taken from their parents if they refuse to submit them to gender mutilation surgeries. We can’t let Arizona go that direction! 

Who’s tracking where you drive?

Automatic license plate readers can record where and when vehicles travel. Recent controversies involving these systems in Arizona communities have raised questions about access, data sharing, misuse, retention, and appropriate safeguards. 

California offers a glimpse of how expansive these networks can become. San José has deployed nearly 500 license plate readers across the city, and residents are now challenging the system in court, alleging that its ability to track drivers’ movements without a warrant violates constitutional privacy protections. Arizonans face their own choice between a right to privacy and how far government surveillance should reach.