A video recorded by onlookers one night in January shows liquid spewing out the passenger window of a moving pickup truck onto a crowd of people gathered in front of a Zipps Sports Grill — one of a handful of the restaurant chain’s locations raided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents earlier that day.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego raised the issue during a February City Council meeting to plan how the city will respond to lawlessness by federal authorities.
“At 32nd Street and Shea (Boulevard), ICE agents pepper sprayed protesters with no cause whatsoever. That appears to be assault,” Gallego said. “There is a well founded fear that what ICE has done in Minneapolis could happen in Phoenix.”
Phoenix police say they interviewed the person who recorded the video. Detectives made a police report. The incident “remains open.” But a case has not been sent to prosecutors.
The department also said it was told federal authorities involved in the raids are investigating.
Phoenix is not the only city where accountability plans are underway.
In the aftermath of a pair of fatal shootings by immigration officers in Minneapolis — and amid reports of ramped-up ICE plans in Arizona — some city and county officials here are mulling new policies to police federal actions locally.
Last month, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted to advance two ICE-related resolutions brought by Supervisor Jenn Allen.
One is a resolution formally opposing the use of masks by federal personnel like ICE, except when it’s needed to protect public health or during SWAT operations. The other would bar ICE from using county-owned property without a warrant signed by a judge.
U.S. military veteran Charles Russell was one of several local residents who packed a county meeting to advocate for the new measures and said he wanted to see policies with teeth.
“Cities and counties have as much power against the federal government as they choose to use,” Russell said. “Local law enforcement has to step up and protect their communities. Meaningful resolutions from local politicians give those agencies the enforceable power to do that.”
But not everyone agrees on how that would work. Steve Christy is the board’s sole Republican and the only supervisor who voted against both ICE-related measures. Punctuated by jeers and clapping from the crowd, he argued local police could end up facing off against federal officers in order to enforce the policies.
“What are we going to do? Send in Tucson Police Department to draw their guns?” Christy said. “This is a lot of show, but it also has a lot of danger to it. Because now you’re going to be instructing other law enforcement agencies to physically battle with ICE.”
Both Pima County measures passed 4-1 and are resolutions right now, meaning they’re not legally enforceable. County leaders say now that the resolution forms have passed, they can get started on ordinances, which could become more legally binding.
Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives with the American Immigration Council, says they’re some of a surge of local policies that have cropped up nationwide in the wake of ICE’s operation in Minnesota, where thousands were detained and U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot by federal agents.
“What we’re seeing now is absolutely unprecedented, the number of policies that we’re seeing introduced across the county, as well as the reach of them,” Francis said.
But, she says, which ideas end up as actual policies is still an open question — and some policies are already being litigated.
Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled against a state policy in California that banned the use of masks for federal agents, arguing it unfairly singled out one law enforcement entity, rather than applying to everyone. In February, the Department of Justice filed suit against an executive order in New Jersey that bars ICE from using state-owned property without a warrant.
“We’ve seen challenges to both state and municipal policies trying to do things that the federal government would claim is their territory, essentially, so, we’re not necessarily seeing more success if a state introduces a policy versus a municipality,” Francis said.
Back in Phoenix, the City Council’s agenda last month was to work on a framework for investigating allegations of crimes by ICE.
But the meeting was quickly interrupted by immigrant advocates, who shouted out to council members to let them speak. The council voted to have an ordinance drafted and got out of dodge.
Among those waiting to see a draft come late March is immigration attorney Juliana Manzanarez. The founder of Via Law Group said city officials should work on the ordinance with activist groups that hijacked the meeting, because they understand the lived reality of those the ordinance would help.
“It has to happen because otherwise you are creating ordinances where you think are great on paper and in concept. But we don’t live in concept,” Manzanarez said.
It’s unclear if the ordinance will get enough city council votes to pass. But if it does, Manzanarez hopes city prosecutors have the will to charge federal authorities who break the law.
“Do they actually want to bring them? And then identifying this person, I think, is going to be the hardest thing for law enforcement to be able to do when they are wearing masks,” she said.
City attorneys generally prosecute misdemeanor cases only. Felony charges against a federal agent would have to come from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office or U.S. attorney.
Earlier this year, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office set up a portal where members of the public can upload photos and videos of alleged misconduct by federal officers for the state to investigate.
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This measure would advance a resolution approved by supervisors last month that bars the use of masks for law enforcement, including ICE, if officers are not otherwise identifiable.
