(The Center Square) – Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh said the Arizona Legislature may sue Pima County after state Attorney General Kris Mayes sided with the border county on its resolution limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
However, before doing this, Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, told The Center Square that he would need to work with the Legislature’s attorneys to determine the legislative body’s legal standing in trying to stop the county’s policy on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“I don’t know if we can do that,” Kavanagh said about a lawsuit, but added it is worth exploring.
Last week, Mayes issued a legal opinion rejecting Arizona Republicans’ request to stop Pima County, which is on the border with Mexico, from implementing the resolution.
Pima County’s resolution stops federal immigration officials from using county-owned property for civil immigration enforcement without a valid judicial warrant, as well as from using county property for staging or processing.
Furthermore, the resolution prohibits county employees from assisting federal immigration officials with civil immigration enforcement.
In her legal opinion, Mayes said Pima County’s resolution did not violate Arizona law that prevents local governments from restricting “the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”
Mayes said Arizona law “does not mandate that political subdivisions do more than what federal law requires.”
“Federal immigration law does not preempt the resolution” because the “resolution derives from the county’s ‘historic power’ to regulate its own property,” the attorney general noted. “Federal law governing immigration enforcement does not indicate any congressional intent to preempt the county’s authority to regulate access to its own property via the resolution.”
Kavanagh told The Center Square that “the attorney general ruled that preventing immigration officers from doing their job somehow does not count as restricting enforcement.”
He said Mayes’ legal opinion is “politically motivated,” noting it was “bad for Arizona.”
Mayes’ opinion sends the wrong message to local jurisdictions in the state, Kavanagh said.
“She just empowered other would-be sanctuary cities to become sanctuary cities,” he said.
Kavanagh noted the Arizona Legislature could make the law’s language “more airtight,” but to do so, Arizona would need a Republican governor.
Republicans have majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but lack enough seats to override Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ vetoes.
Kanagah said he did not know how the Legislature could make the bill’s language any tighter.
“The language clearly says that counties can’t restrict immigration enforcement. So how anybody can claim that telling ICE agents they can’t go on city property is not restricting it is beyond me,” the majority leader said.
Kavanagh was not the only Republican critical of Mayes’ legal opinion.
Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, said, “Democrat-run local governments put radical political agendas ahead of public safety.”
“Instead of supporting law enforcement and protecting their citizens from crime, they’re creating barriers that make it harder to enforce the law and easier for criminals to stay in our communities,” said Petersen, who’s running against fellow Republican Rodney Glassman in the July 21 primary for attorney general. The winner will run against Mayes, who isn’t facing any Democratic opposition in the primary, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Richie Taylor, the communications director for Mayes’ office, told The Center Square by email that Arizona “law is clear, and it does not compel cooperation between local governments and ICE.”
“Refusing to cooperate is not the same as restricting ICE’s ability to enforce immigration laws. Senate Republicans should respect local control and the lawful policy decisions made by the elected supervisors of Pima County,” he said.
Pima County Supervisor Matt Heinz told The Center Square that it is “important to have affirmation and the support of the attorney general” regarding this legal matter.
“We have the ability to control what goes on county government property,” Heinz said. “It makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad that she affirmed what [Pima County] did is consistent with Arizona statute.”
Mayes’ opinion, according to Heinz, shows local jurisdictions that they “actually do have the ultimate say about what goes on” at county-owned property.
With the resolution in place, Heinz told The Center Square that he didn’t think the county’s new policy would strain the relationship between local and federal law enforcement.
He said local law enforcement has “good communication” with federal law enforcement.
The resolution shouldn’t impede federal law enforcement’s actions such as arresting illegal immigrants, Heinz said.
