AMY GOOD GUY: This Democracy Now!democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman Back in Arizona, on Election Day, voters approved a sweeping ballot measure that would allow state and local law enforcement to detain immigrants suspected of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside ports of entry while giving state judges the authority to do so. to order deportation.

The new law, which creates a series of state crimes targeting immigrants, is modeled on a similar measure in Texas known as SB 4, which is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. While only certain parts of Proposition 314 are scheduled to go into effect later this month, the most harmful parts of the new law will not be implemented until the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of Texas’ SB 4. The measure has drawn comparisons to Arizona’s. Controversial SB 1070 has also been documented, a 2010 law that gives local police the authority to detain suspicious immigrants. SB 1070 was largely rejected by the Supreme Court.

More than 60% of Arizona voters supported the anti-immigrant measure, while a separate landmark initiative enshrining the right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution also overwhelmingly passed. Donald Trump won the presidential race in Arizona with 52% of the vote; but Arizonans also elected Democrat Rubén Gallego, who defeated Republican Trump ally Kari Lake in the closely watched Senate race.

To learn more about all this, we head to Tucson, Arizona; We’re joined here by Alejandra Pablos, a longtime reproductive and immigrant justice community organizer who was targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for her pro-choice activism and faced deportation proceedings for more than a decade. .

We hope to see you again, Alejandra. Democracy Now! So if you can explain what’s going on in Arizona right now, vote for the anti-immigrant bill and the pro-abortion bill, vote for Democrat Gallego and vote for Trump.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Thank you Amy. Thank you, Democracy Now!for taking me back. It’s a pleasure. We would like to thank all our friends and organizers who resist every day.

There are so many things you mentioned. It’s a chaotic situation, I know. Being in my body every day is super, super traumatic. As someone who has struggled with detention and deportation, and who shares my story of having an abortion and being incarcerated, I absolutely shudder. I am under technological surveillance and retaliation. I was doxxed. I can’t say I don’t feel cold.

But I also know we’ve been here before. I also know that we have been moving to the right on immigration for a long time, people say, towards the center. But actually voters voted for this because they called it a border security issue. And that’s not what actually happened. This is racial profiling, right? This is already a way to distort criminal charges and use them for immigration purposes. It is already a way of using our state resources to scare our people and make them even more helpless.

What we want is a stable economy, an economy with dignity and prosperity for all of us, working people, immigrant people, racialized people. And I think there’s a lot of confusion, there’s a lot of rhetoric because, again, we’re not all able to meet our basic needs.

I think it would be chaotic in a moment where Gallego beats Kari Lake but Trump wins. There’s a lot of nuance to this, right? People won’t vote for a woman either, so misogyny is right in front of us.

You know, I’m so glad Proposition 139, the ballot measure on abortion access, passed. But it’s still not enough. This is another state-centered Roe v. wadeWe know it will still be attacked.

And it’s really unfortunate to have to organize right now familyhaving to organize rapid response networks, advocating by committee – committees working with people on the ground, trying to inform people about their rights and what they can do to protect each other, because that’s what we’ve been doing for a long time. You know, most of us can’t trust the police. We see the harm of the police ICE partnership.

And I think the administration could do a lot more right now to protect me and other people, activists who are speaking out. You know, the last time Trump came into his presidency, he immediately deported and targeted Maru for his activism, right? — (inaudible) La Resistencia, close the Northwest Detention Center. And we don’t know who they’ll target right away, right? I, too, am still in limbo regarding my deportation case. And I know the administration can do more right now. They can close cases. You know, they can stop using technological technology to give it away. ICE to start targeting and deporting us.

So there’s so much we need to talk about right now. And unfortunately the Democratic Party hasn’t done enough to be the exact opposite of Trump, right? – show us the exact opposite of the division Trump presents us with. For this reason –

AMY GOOD GUY: But Gallego still won.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: — yes everyone, pray for us.

AMY GOOD GUY: But still Alejandra and Rubén Gallego won. He will be the first Latino senator to represent Arizona.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Yes, and I want to point out that just being Latino doesn’t represent us. I love that Rubén Gallego is now my new target and our new goal. We expect Rubén Gallego to do a lot to protect and fight for the people of Arizona. And we will definitely hold him accountable.

AMY GOOD GUY: So explain how the voted Proposition 314 was split into two parts. Some of it will come into effect soon, while the other part has to weigh in on the Supreme Court.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Yeah, so this is a replica of what’s going on in Texas, Texas, SB 4, right? I think these truly punitive measures are still being considered in the Supreme Court, but we also know who and what the Supreme Court consists of, and it is not our friend. We see that the Supreme Court is moving further to the right and taking away our rights. So we see that it will pass. And as you said, by the end of November, most of these parts of Proposition 314 will actually go into effect, which means an attack on benefits, right?

Really, again, the fear is already given, if this passes, some of it doesn’t, you know? Fear already exists. And also the conflict between families — right? – sometimes we see people voting for Trump. That means you voted against us, right? So I’m trying to show everyone a little more grace because of how desperate we are and how our communities right now want security and an economy that is truly for the people, not for the rich and Trump’s friends.

AMY GOOD GUY: Finally, Alejandra, explain your own situation as a pro-abortion activist. You felt targeted and you were detained.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Yes. I think, again, the first people to feel the chill are the people who speak out. I was slandered by local vigilantes and local fairness activists who wanted me deported, wanted me to be separated from my family. So I’m speaking out and I think we’re not going back to the shadows right now, even though it’s a risk. What we won’t do is stop loving each other. And we will continue to organize.

I think the important demands right now again are that the administration can start closing cases. I, myself, and many others are just waiting for paperwork, trying to reopen their cases to finalize them so they don’t start deportation proceedings under another administration that is extremely violent against immigrants. So, once again, I think it’s important to do more right now. The cases of the most vulnerable people, such as transgender people, need to be terminated so that we do not feel these attacks again.

AMY GOOD GUY: And you’re talking about the federal government.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: That’s why we need to protect activists now.

AMY GOOD GUY: Are you talking about the federal government stepping in at this point before President Biden takes office? Could you talk about the demands and organization of the society? Because we are not talking about future militarization of the border, but there will definitely be more; You’re now in Tucson, Arizona, which is heavily militarized.

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Definitely. You know, I’m also the coordinator of the Dignity Not Detention Coalition in California. And we actually went to all the different detention centers in California. Even though there are 16, there are still seven, and the people organizing there shut them down. But we also went to Whiskey 8, which is an open-air detention center. Our colleagues there also support people and make sure they have what they need.

And it gets really, really hostile at the border, right? They will continue to build that wall. They’re just going to continue to keep people out, push people out of ports of entry to seek asylum, right? That’s what’s happening and what they’re threatening to do more of.

So, again, we see that the people most affected are coming from African countries, South and Central America, and Southeast Asian countries where we reject immigration. And we really need to get back into the presence of these people and be really ready to welcome them. It’s really unfortunate that in Tucson we’re talking about not supporting people coming in, not supporting refugees. The “shut the door behind me” feeling is our job right now to fight and talk about how we all need our basic needs met.

And it’s really irresponsible of us not to talk about what the US government and its policies are doing to cause people to migrate. A lot of people are coming because, again, we’ve intervened and really criminalized and created police and more prisons in other countries. And we really have to understand that while this can be a safe haven for many people and we are being reunited with our family members, we can’t force people out.

As said before, we will be separated from our families. There will also be US citizen children who will be affected. I think employees will be affected the most by this situation. We work with Southside Workers in Tucson, Arizona. Organized by Derechos Humanos family – Right? – even just to share information.

We want to be able to spend the holidays with our families, but we need to organize forums instead. We have to start writing – you know, we have to start protecting our property and writing papers for the notary to protect. For example, there are many things we need to do and we don’t want to do it. It’s truly unfortunate that Trump continues this rhetoric and continues to put us on high crisis alert.

AMY GOOD GUY: Alejandra —

ALEJANDRA PABLOS: Super traumatic. My 3 year old – my 3 year old nephew said, “What? Embers? Trump will treat people badly.” Three-year-olds know what trauma is like, you know? And that’s how we grow up, little bodies being traumatized by racism.

AMY GOOD GUY: Alejandra Pablos, a reproductive justice community organizer and storyteller based in Tucson, Arizona, I want to thank you for being with us. ICE He and himself faced deportation proceedings for more than a decade due to his activism.

We’ll look at Trump’s presidential election soon EPAFormer New York Congressman Lee Zeldin has long opposed environmental regulations. They also talk about moving. EPA from Washington. People say it’s not a displacement, it’s a decapitation. Stay with us.