Victory Paints Stark Contrast to Anti-Immigrant Prop. 300 Which Passed by 70 Percent in 2006
Puts Arizona at Forefront of Call to Congress to pass DREAM Act as First State to Pass a Ballot Initiative Granting Rights to Undocumented Immigrants
PHOENIX, AZ – With Proposition 308 declared victorious yesterday by Arizona voters, national and Arizona-based immigration advocates, business leaders, and elected officials are calling on Congress to heed the attitudes of voters in Arizona – one of the nation’s most contentious state’s in the fight for immigrant rights – and pass a federal DREAM Act immediately.
“A majority of Arizona voters chose the state’s economic future and human solutions over demagogic attacks on immigrants,” said ABIC Action Executive Director Rebecca Shi. “The bipartisan vote in Arizona shows the way forward for the Congress for dreamers and farm workers before the end of the year.”
Proposition 308’s passage by a margin of 3 percent marks a 46 percent shift in Arizona voter attitudes toward undocumented immigrants, painting a stark contrast to Proposition 300, an extremely anti-immigrant ballot initiative, which, among other things, forced Arizona Dreamer high school graduates to pay out-of-state tuition at Arizona state colleges and universities and which passed by a margin of 70 percent in 2006.
We need immigration reform. It’s incredibly important for our state but also for the country. We’ve got tens of thousands of Dreamers in Arizona who I look at as just as American as my own two kids,” said U.S. Senator Mark Kelly.
The victory also heralds a new era in Arizona politics in an election in which voters unequivocally rejected the combined $100M spent on the anti-immigrant, white nationalist politics of Trumpism, defeating the three most prominent Trump-endorsed candidates for the state’s highest offices: Kari Lake for Governor, Blake Masters for Senate, and Mark Finchem for Secretary of State.
While Proposition 308 was supported by 83 percent of Arizona democrats, it is especially notable for the support it garnered from independents and republicans who supported the measure by 54 percent and 27 percent respectively.
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ABIC Action is the political arm of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan coalition of over 1,200+ CEOs, business owners, and trade associations across 17 mostly red and purple states. ABIC Action promotes common sense immigration reform that advances economic competitiveness, provides companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.