Voters in Tucson will decide in November whether the city will become Arizona’s first "sanctuary city."
The term sanctuary city has long been a nuanced one. In Tucson, it will mean just how much local law enforcement can work with federal immigration agents to enforce federal law.
For example, Tucson police will be prohibited from checking a person’s immigration status at a courthouse, or church or school. And they won’t be able to ask about that status during some controversial traffic stops called pretextual stops, such as traffic stops conducted over the darkness of a windshield's tint that then leads to an arrest.
Zaira Livier is executive director of the People’s Defense Initiative which got the proposal to the ballot.
"We’re putting in roadblocks and protections to make sure that our police department, and our city government is here to protect and provide justice for all of its residents regardless of their immigration status," Livier said.
The Pima County Republican Party vowed to sue to check the authenticity of the 18,000 voters signatures that opted to put it to a vote.
