AG: Revised Phoenix Immigration Enforcement Policy Is Legal
The Phoenix Police Department’s recently revised immigration enforcement policy does not violate state law, the Arizona attorney general has concluded.
The revised policy outlines how and when Phoenix police should work with federal authorities. It’s modeled after similar approaches in Mesa and Tucson. Now officers need a sergeant’s approval to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But an Arizona state senator thought it went against SB 1070. When he contacted the Attorney General's Office, a different state law required the agency to investigate.
Phoenix is in line with federal and state immigration law, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said.
“If you look at the specifics of their policies, indeed what they have done is they’ve crafted a policy that not only doesn’t contradict, but is very much consistent with state law,” Brnovich said.
The Phoenix Law Enforcement Association has said revising the policy took away valuable tools from police.
Advocates for the revision have said it was designed to protect victims, witnesses and children at schools.
