Anticipating possible immigration raids by federal authorities, the Phoenix City Council voted 7-1 on March 4 to spend up to $500,000 on outside legal counsel to help the city prepare for potential court battles.
The contract with Phoenix law firm Coppersmith Brockelman PLC is part of the city’s Community Transparency Initiative, a framework council members adopted last month to help Phoenix respond if federal immigration enforcement actions occur in the city.
Councilman Jim Waring voted against the measure and Councilwoman Ann O’Brien was absent.
City leaders said the outside attorneys would advise the city and represent Phoenix if legal challenges arise.
“We’re doing what we can to protect our residents in the event that the federal government does here what they did in Minnesota, massive civil rights violations, violence against innocent people and zero respect for rule of law,” Mayor Kate Gallego said.
“An essential part of our efforts to protect our residents is to make sure we have the right team on our side if we take legal action against the federal government.”
She said the law firm comprises “experienced lawyers who have handled complex federal issues on an emergency basis.”
Gallego specifically mentioned law firm member Bo Dul, a former counsel to the governor and state Secretary of State.
“She’s a champion of Arizona’s immigrant community and one of the founders of the Phoenix Legal Action Network, which works with and advocates for immigrants,” the mayor said.
Gallego also said, “We will be taking many more actions as we prepare for potential federal overreach, but this is an important one.”
City Attorney Julie Kriegh said Dul will advise Phoenix “if it becomes necessary to bring or defend against litigation related to either immigration raids or the new Community Transparency Initiative.”
That initiative directs city staff to “document and preserve information on federal immigration enforcement activities within Phoenix city limits that may violate criminal statutes and/or individual civil rights with the intent to investigate crimes committed by federal agents who act outside the scope of their duties.”
It also directs staff to “collect data on impacts to City services as a result of federal immigration enforcement,” “identify potential partnerships and volunteer opportunities to facilitate the initiative,” “Ensure multilingual communication channels across City services and resources,” and train city workers “who may encounter federal enforcement actions, including protocols related to administrative and judicial warrants.”
Only two council members – Anna Hernandez and Kesha Hodge Washington – commented during the meeting besides the mayor.
“I think it is very important for us just to be very clear with our residents that we do take these preparations and the response to I.C.E. and Trump very seriously,” Hernandez said, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
She asked Kriegh if the law firm “is going to support our legal team as we prepare for I.C.E. and Trump as outlined in the Community Transparency Initiative.”
Kriegh replied, “That is correct.”
The city attorney also said using the firm iis “more of an issue of helping to advise us on some of the directives that council had passed. We were asked to also look at staging and looking at a number of different areas, so each of those might involve some legal risk or some legal questions that we needed to help evaluate.”
Hodge Washington added, “I think this item represents the city taken an important step in advance in the Community Transparency Initiative that Council directed staff to develop.
“Transparency builds trust, and when residents feel informed, included and heard, confidence in local government grows stronger,” she said, saying the firm “will help provide the legal and structural framework necessary to ensure that the city’s efforts are thoughtful, legally sound and sustainable.”
Stating “the more thoughts and more leaders and individuals that are part of that process..provide for a stronger plan going forward,” Hodge Washington also said the firm will “ensure that our residents feel safe and protected the fear and frustration that some of our residents feel from what we’re seeing in other parts of our country as a result of our federal administration.”
She also thanked Gallego for taking a step that is “foundational to good governance and (aims) to restore in the public trust.”