Phoenix City Council was scheduled on Feb. 10 to begin work on a “framework for a Community Transparency Initiative” that could include criminal prosecutions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The session, which was to be held after this newspaper’s deadline, was called by Mayor Kate Gallego in a Feb. 5 letter to City Manager Ed Zuercher that says, “The City therefore has responsibility to provide residents with access to accurate information, supportive resources, and clear guidance to navigate difficult and unprecedented times.”
Those “difficult and unprecedented times” are set forth by the mayor in strong terms.
“Residents throughout Phoenix have shared their growing concern about how potential federal law enforcement activities could threaten their civil rights, harm stability for their families, and cause sudden disruptions to their daily lives.”
While noting the immigration enforcement “is exclusively a federal responsibility” and that the “city must comply with all federal and state-mandated requirements,” Gallego also said:
“The Council shares concerns that federal enforcement operations have utilized tactics that have repeatedly violated the civil rights of citizens and non-citizens alike and placed the safety of residents engaging in lawful activity in jeopardy.
“The City therefore has a responsibility to provide residents with access to accurate information, supportive resources, and clear guidance to navigate difficult and unprecedented times.
“The Community Transparency Initiative is intended to serve as a lawful, compassionate, and community-centered response to these concerns.”
She also said, “The City Council aims for all residents of Phoenix to have access to the information, resources, and support needed to feel secure and informed. The Community Transparency Initiative should represent a responsible, lawful, and compassionate approach to addressing community concerns.”
Among the items she said Council wants city staff to present to it in 45 days is a mandate 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.”
That framework also would include a requirement to “collect data on impacts to City services as a result of federal immigration enforcement” and “identify potential partnerships and volunteer opportunities to facilitate the initiative.”
She also said Council wants to “ensure multilingual communication channels across City services and resources” and to “implement training for City employees who may encounter federal enforcement actions, including protocols related to administrative and judicial warrants.”
The study session comes about three weeks after Phoenix Police Chief on Jan. 23 issued a statement related to its position amid “heightened concerns about the presence of outside agencies, including federal law enforcement such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the National Guard.”
It stressed Phoenix Police officers “will always identify themselves in the course of their duties,” never wear face coverings in conducting enforcement actions and have “visible Phoenix Police identifiers” on their uniforms.
It also said police “do not enforce federal immigration laws: but “also cannot interrupt or prevent their operations.”
It also advised anyone who claimed to be an officer and refused to identify themselves or wore unmarked clothing to call 911 “if the situation is happening now” or call 602-262-6287 if it was not an emergency.
ICE activities last year prompted several lengthy and at times heated council meetings.
Last June Council voted 8-1 to reject a citizens petition asking that Phoenix Police and park rangers to end most traffic stops for equipment failures, and terminate so-called quality of life arrests for public urination, sleeping in parks and other activities.”
It also demanded Phoenix Police end any immigration enforcement activities, which police officials said they’re not involved in.
The portion of the petition dealing with so-called “quality of life arrests” involved the data Phoenix Police maintain on arrests and stops and the fact ICE agents are allowed to check the immigration status of inmates at the Maricopa County Jail.
South Phoenix Councilwoman Anna Hernandez, who cast the sole vote in favor of the petition, at one point also suggested that Phoenix needs its own jail, since the only detention facility available for Phoenix officers who make arrests is the County Jail.
She also asserted that the very fact that the city pays for the suspects’ housing suggests Phoenix cooperates with ICE.
But Assistant City Manager Lori Bays explained that from information it received from the county, “it looks like about 4% of the bookings have led to what (the sheriff’s office) refers to as stops or immigration holds.”
“What we are not able to tell you at this point is what that means for the individual,” Bays said. “So once the person is in MCSO custody and has that hold placed on them, we have no information about what occurs after that point.
“And so in order to receive that, we would have to have cooperation from ICE themselves to provide us that information,” she continued. “And we can make that request, however, we don’t know whether or not that would be provided to us.”
Administration officials also said it would cost Phoenix upwards of $30 million to $40 million to build its own jail.