Setting the stage for a lawsuit, the Arizona House voted late Thursday night to forbid jail officials from releasing inmates that immigration authorities want them to hold.
The bill would make it illegal for any public official to refuse to comply with an "immigration detainer.''
That’s a formal request by the Department of Homeland Security that a state or local agency keep an undocumented immigrant for up to 48 hours, giving federal agents time to pick them up.
House Democrat Tony Navarrete calls it a dangerous bill.
“All it's going to do is make our communities less safe because families are going to continue to feel afraid to make a call to law enforcement," Navarrete said. "Law enforcement continues to be against this.”
The measure comes after Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone announced this week that his jails will no longer hold people any longer than necessary to process them for the state charges if a judge has ordered them released.