City of Phoenix initiatives and plans for safeguards against ICE, “not enough” say residents ...

Residents and advocacy groups are not satisfied with the City of Phoenix’s plan for safeguards against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Earlier this month, city officials in Phoenix outlined an initiative in hopes of protecting residents from a potential threat to their civil rights.

The initiative details the plan to monitor ICE activity in Phoenix, ensure residents are informed of their rights, collect data on impacts to city services, and train city employees on how to respond if they encounter ICE agents.

However, anti-ICE groups and residents have shared— they aren’t reassured.

Poder in Action Spokesperson Mike Cassidy said, in a recent interview, “None of it is proactive… We see how (ICE officers) are behaving around the country.”

Immigrant advocacy groups like Puente, Borderlands Initiative, and Progress Arizona are taking the first steps in the hopes that the City of Phoenix will follow their lead.

“There’s a big push right now for us to get the City of Phoenix to take those steps,” Beth Strano of the Borderlands Initiative told Northeast Valley News.

These first steps include rapid-response trainings and hotlines, lobbying outside the state capitol, or accompanying immigrants to customs check-ins or errands.

Assistance groups are doing what they can to be proactive, but they feel the city council should be taking a more aggressive stance alongside neighboring cities.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero has been vocal about keeping ICE out of their community and making Tucson residents feel safe, regardless of immigration status—Phoenix residents want their city council to do the same.

“It’s very doable to take steps that will make their community safer. It is their job,” Strano said.

The general consensus is that Phoenix should move to ban ICE operations on all city-owned property unless a warrant has been issued.

Mia Lucas, a lifelong Valley resident, says it shouldn’t stop there with regard to banning ICE on city property, “Not only that, but in neighborhoods too. These are people’s homes and lives… we should feel safe.”

Lucas said, it feels “Less about safety and more about agency over another person. There’s a peaceful way to go about things.”

Strano urged advocates, “We need to fight for dignity and respect and pathways to actual protected status in the United States.”

While fear of civil injustice is still raging across the Valley, community members are showing up in numbers for their neighbors.