Pinal County supervisors to take county attorney to court over 287(g) agreement with ICE

Pinal County’s Board of Supervisors will be taking County Attorney Brad Miller to court over his agreement with ICE to enforce immigration law.

The board held an emergency session on Friday, where supervisors unanimously voted to use outside legal counsel to take civil action against Miller.

He signed what’s called a 287(g) agreement, which allows specially trained investigators in his office to enforce immigration law. Historically, these agreements have been used for local law enforcement to help funnel undocumented people who have been arrested into deportation proceedings.

Pinal County supervisors say Miller’s contract with ICE is void because the board didn’t authorize it.

The county attorney, meanwhile, argues the authority is his because he holds elected office over a law-enforcement agency.

In a letter dated Jan. 27 to the board’s outside counsel, Miller said he had no intention of terminating the agreement with the Department of Homeland Security.

"Please convey to the Board that I remain willing to discuss the Agreement with them in open session," Miller wrote. "I would be happy to engage in a productive dialogue to explain how my office has implemented and complied with the terms of the Agreement in cooperation with DHS to keep our community safe and discharge my statutory duties under Arizona law."

The board’s outside counsel had asked Miller to outline what actions he would take to terminate the agreement no later than Jan. 28 following a legal opinion from business law firm Snell & Wilmer. The firm's analysis determined the 287(g) agreement is void because it wasn’t approved by the Board of Supervisors, as required by state and federal law.