Republicans in the Arizona Senate approved legislation that would force local and state law enforcement to help federal officials carry out the Trump administration’s deportation effort.
Senate President Warren Petersen’s Senate Bill 1164 originally required law enforcement agencies to enter into agreements with the federal immigration officials by the beginning of next year to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
The version of the bill passed by Senate Republicans on Feb. 27 removed that broad mandate but explicitly bans cities, counties and state agencies from adopting policies prohibiting cooperation with immigration officials.
And it still requires certain agencies to help with federal immigration efforts.
For instance, sheriffs, local police and state prison officials would be required to fulfill ICE detainer requests, which the agency issues when they believe state or local law enforcement have a person in custody who is in the country without legal authorization.
Under SB 1164, local and state officials would be required to keep the person in custody for federal immigration officials and inform a judge hearing the person’s criminal case that ICE believes they are not in the country legally – unless the person can provide proof they have legal status.
Petersen, a Gilbert Republican, said the bill is designed to aid in the deportation of people already in police custody for committing crimes.
“It deals with this first wave of deportation that the Trump administration is focused on, which is removing the most dangerous criminals from our streets,” Petersen said.
Sen. John Kavanagh (R-Scottsdale) said Republicans have a mandate to fulfill that goal, citing the recent election that saw Trump win the White House and the GOP expand its majorities in the state Legislature.
“The people are fed up with illegal immigration and the mess that it's caused in our cities and other locales, and this is one step that we're taking to answer and respond to what the people want,” Kavanagh said.
The bill would also require the state prison system and county sheriffs to enter so-called 287(g) agreements or similar contracts to temporarily house those people.
Currently in Arizona, only the Arizona Department of Corrections, Mesa Police Department and three county sheriffs – La Paz, Yavapai and Pinal – have 287(g) jail enforcement agreements with federal officials.
“The program is used when booking people into jail who have committed a crime and were not born in the USA …The 287(g) questionnaire is applied whenever someone is booked into jail who was not born in the United States or a U.S. Territory,” according to a statement from Mesa police, which has had an agreement in effect since 2009.
The bill passed the Senate with only Republican votes.
Democrats argued it will result in racial profiling against immigrant communities, including citizens and others with legal authorization to be in the country.
“And that is not just an assumption of what would happen under this bill; that is Arizona's history,” said Sen. Analise Ortiz (D-Phoenix), citing the fact that the federal government terminated such an agreement with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office over a decade ago after a federal judge found the department engaged in a pattern of racial profiling while engaged in a 287(g) agreement.
Petersen, the bill sponsor, balked at those allegations.
“We absolutely welcome immigrants, recognize their importance,” he said. “I have immigrants in my family – many. But they followed the law. They applied for visas and citizenships, and they followed the process. That is all we are asking.”
The bill now moves to the Arizona House of Representatives and will eventually need Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ approval to become law.
Hobbs has said she is willing to work with Republicans and Trump on border security issues – and recently invested resources to combat cartel activity – but does not appear to support Petersen’s plan.
Earlier this month, a spokesman for Hobbs said she opposes anything that forces the state to use its resources for the federal program.
“We should not have bureaucrats and politicians from Washington, D.C., decide what's best for our state,'' Christian Slater told Capitol Media Services. “We shouldn't tie the hands of Arizona law enforcement when the federal government is getting it wrong.”
If passed, the legislation would allow the state attorney general to bring lawsuits against agencies and municipalities accused of violating the law. And, if the attorney general doesn’t act, individual taxpayers could also file suit in an attempt to enforce the legislation.
It would also allow any lawmaker to direct the attorney general to investigate municipalities suspected of violating the law’s ban on policies blocking cooperation with ICE.
A separate law passed in 2016 requires the Attorney General’s Office to investigate when lawmakers believe local governments are violating state law and directs the state treasurer to withhold state funding to cities or counties that are found in violation.
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The portal’s homepage says members of the public should use the form to report potentially unlawful activity by federal personnel from agencies like ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security Investigations.
