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Phoenix Mayor: Phoenix Can't Legally Become A 'Sanctuary City'

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton
Chris Connelly/KJZZ
Greg Stanton

Phoenix officials are advising the City Council to deny a resident's petition to adopt so-called sanctuary policies to shield immigrants. 

While the City Council is scheduled to consider the petition at a meeting next Wednesday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton clarified the city’s position at a press conference on Friday.

“But because of [SB] 1070 as a legal matter, we can’t become a sanctuary city," he said.

A memo by the city attorney said the petition’s request is vague and amounts to asking the city and its employees to violate a requirement set by the law.

President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw federal funding from sanctuary cities. 

KJZZ senior field correspondent Kathy Ritchie has 20 years of experience reporting and writing stories for national and local media outlets — nearly a decade of it has been spent in public media.