(The Center Square) – The Arizona state Senate passed a bill this week that would require the state’s court system to notify federal authorities when a criminal illegal immigrant is released from prison.
Senators passed Senate Bill 1213 along party lines by a vote of 16 to 13, with state Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, absent from the vote.
SB 1213 would also prevent criminal illegal aliens from being allowed probation.
On top of this, the bill allows Arizona legal residents to take legal action against local governments that take any steps to limit the enforcement of federal immigration law. A city may be fined between $500 and $5,000 daily until the policy is ended.
Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, told The Center Square that she does not think Arizona taxpayers “should be paying for illegal aliens to be on probation” in the state.
“If someone is in this country illegally and commits a crime, the system should not place them back on probation and move on,” Shamp said. “This bill ensures federal immigration authorities are immediately involved so dangerous offenders are not allowed to remain in our communities, especially pedophiles.”
She noted SB 1213 came about after an incident in November 2025, when Abel Gblah, a permanent resident from Liberia, allegedly sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl at a Phoenix elementary school.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Gblah, who came into America on a green card in 2011, was charged with sex assault, abduction, lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, and kidnapping a minor with intent to sexually assault.
During his time in America, Gblah, a registered sex offender, was arrested and convicted on two counts of sexual conduct with a minor in 2021, the DHSstated.
The next year, Gblah was arrested and convicted of smuggling illegal immigrants into America, the DHS noted.
12 News reported that Gblah had been on life-time parole since 2022 and had violated parole numerous times.
Shamp said if Arizona had notified federal authorities “appropriately,” this “little girl would not have had her life changed forever.”
The senator said she has asked to find out the number of criminal illegal immigrants on probation in Arizona, but has not been able to acquire that information.
As a result, Shamp said she introduced SB 1544, which would allow state probation records to be open to public records requests.
This week, SB 1544 failed to pass the state Senate. State senators voted 15 to 14, with state Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, being the only Republican to vote against the bill. Rogers was absent from this vote.
According to Shamp, SB 1544 failed because people are “worried about protecting privacy.”
“It’s something that I’m gonna continue to work on. I’m finally getting members to start having the conversation with me about what’s going on at probation, and that we cannot get any of the data,” she noted.
Shamp said it takes a few times to run a bill so people can have conversations, make edits and turn a bill proposal “as best as possible.”
Going forward, Shamp called SB 1213 “an extremely partisan bill,” saying Democrats “are doubling down on standing for the rights of criminal illegal immigrants instead of citizens of Arizona.”
If the bill reaches Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk, Shamp told The Center Square she thinks the governor would veto it.
”We represent the citizens of Arizona first,” she said. “And because we’re not doing that well enough, a little girl’s life will never be the same, and shame on us for allowing that to happen.”
