Valley doesn’t have sanctuary cities, but activists have tried
President Trump confirmed Friday that he is “giving strong considerations” to a policy that would move migrants detained at the border into so-called sanctuary cities.
He said in a press conference Friday afternoon that he could give those cities “an unlimited supply” of people.
There are more than 200 “sanctuary” jurisdictions, including states, cities and counties, spread across the country, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative think tank that favors decreased immigration. None are in Arizona.
But activists have tried.
Sanctuary city is a catch-all term
Politicians and migrant-rights advocates in at least three Arizona cities have proposed policies that would shield undocumented immigrants from deportation. None have passed.
Each proposal has been slightly different. That’s mostly because there’s no set definition of what a sanctuary city actually is. Generally, it’s a catch-all term for a jurisdiction that has passed a law or policy that limits their involvement in federal immigration matters.
In practice, that could mean a police department that stops asking people their legal status, city services that do not discriminate based on a person’s citizenship or a jail that refuses to hold undocumented immigrants until immigration officials arrive.
Arizona is often seen as the center of America’s immigration argument. The entire southern border touches Mexico, and only open desert separates the border from Phoenix and Tucson.
Those two cities lean liberal, while most of the state sticks to its conservative roots.
Phoenix City Council rejected sanctuary policy in 2017
The Phoenix City Council considered such a policy in 2017, after a citizen petition called for the Phoenix Police Department to stop cooperating with federal immigration orders. The petition came just after Trump issued an executive order that cracked down on cities with such policies.
Rick Robinson, the Phoenix resident who filed the petition, told The Arizona Republic that he just wanted the city to move “off the fence” and declare what its policy would be.
Despite some public support, the council denied the petition.
At the time, then-Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said the city couldn’t adopt such a policy, because it would violate standing law.
Citizen-led effort underway in Tucson
Another citizen-led effort is underway in Tucson, where supporters are trying to put the question on the November ballot.
The Tucson-based People’s Defense Initiative wants voters to decide whether the city should declare itself a sanctuary city and keep law enforcement officers out of immigration matters.
The group calls its movement “an aggressive multi-year campaign.”
To secure a spot on the November ballot, the group must collect 9,000 signatures by July 5.
In Flagstaff, yet another community coalition has asked the City Council to consider passing sanctuary policies. That group calls its proposal “Frankie’s Law,” named after a Flagstaff resident who was deported and then ended his life.