Phoenix City Council approves federal immigration enforcement oversight

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Phoenix city leaders gave the green light Wednesday to a new measure that increases oversight on federal immigration enforcement during Wednesday’s meeting, including implementing new restrictions for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other law enforcement agency.

The Phoenix City Council approved the initiative in an 8-1 vote. It came after nearly three hours of discussion.

The new plan (starting on page 88) bans ICE from using city of Phoenix property as a staging area or home base for operations without special permission from the city manager.

Exceptions include Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and cases in which federal agents have a judicial warrant or an emergency situation in which a suspect is fleeing.

Phoenix Police Chief Michael Giordano will serve as the main contact for any federal, state or local agency that wants to use city property for law enforcement.

The policy will also require city workers to document any civil rights violations during federal immigration enforcement activities and be trained on judicial warrants and what to do if they encounter federal agents while working.

The city will start documenting and saving information about what federal immigration enforcement is doing in Phoenix and tracking how these actions affect city services, like police and fire departments.

The policy will also start a Know Your Rights campaign that will be made available in more than 120 languages.

The initiative will also have the City Council review rules for how outside groups can use city property, such as parks.

Phoenix city leaders made it clear, though, that city police officers do not have oversight of the federal government.

However, some said the plan needs to do more and some officials couldn’t be trusted.

“This is a very good policy to start with, but it is not enough. One of the problems is that the chief of police can recommend to authorize it, and the city manager can authorize it. Neither one of those people are elected, and there are some sectors of the community that don’t trust either one of them,” one Phoenix resident said during public comment. “I know that under Arizona law you cannot restrict or obstruct the federal immigration. However, you don’t have to help.”

But officials say the policy is just step one in a long process.

About 100 community members and immigrant advocates stepped up to the podium to share their views.

Mayor Kate Gallego says one of the main goals is to have procedures in place should any ICE agents be involved here in Phoenix with criminal or civil violations. That way, the city can step in in those cases.

Wednesday’s meeting was calmer and more collaborative compared to last month’s meeting, where protesters cut short a different city meeting.

“Much different tone. I think today we’re really thankful of the work that’s been done and we definitely want to see more and are coming to demand more right because we see what’s happening and I think this is a great first step that the city is taking,” said Andrea Luna Cervantes, Arizona campaign manager with Organized Power in Numbers.

Last month, Gallego released a memo called a “Community Transparency Initiative” in response to January’s federal raids at Valley Zipps locations and the Department of Homeland Security buying a Surprise warehouse for $70 million to convert into an ICE detention center.

The issue was brought up during a Feb. 10 meeting where protesters showed up, demanding to be heard. The City Council approved moving the initiative forward to a formal vote.

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