City leaders in Tucson are preparing for the possibility of a surge of federal law enforcement. That, as cities around the US see federal deployments of the National Guard and increased ICE enforcement.
In a press release this week, city officials say they’re closely monitoring the situation of other cities — where the Trump administration has sent National Guard troops without requests from local or state governments.
No such deployment has been announced for Tucson. But Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz says other Democratic-led cities have been targeted.
“So we know that’s just a matter of time before that comes to Tucson, and we are ready to document, because there’s lots of things the Guard can’t do,” Santa Cruz said.
A legal principle called Posse Comitatus forbids military personnel from doing interrogations, crowd control and other civilian law activities. City leaders say they’ll observe the Guard’s activities should they be deployed here, and are prepared to file suit if the principle is violated.
Santa Cruz says the city is regularly hearing from community members who are worried about ICE activity in Tucson.
“We’re getting a lot of constituents and neighbors afraid of taking their kids to school or going to work and wanting to know what can the city do or not do to help keep them safe,”
A new city landing page includes community resources for immigrant families, the rights people have while talking to ICE and other info. Tucson’s mayor and council are also slated to discuss a new policy that would prohibit ICE from staging enforcement operations on city property.
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