On Thursday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton announced that the City cannot do what is required to become a sanctuary city. Stanton’s remarks come in response to a petition submitted by a citizen calling for Phoenix to be declared a sanctuary city.
The petition also requested the City Council to have Phoenix Police no longer follow their operations order on how police officers comply with state law on federal immigration enforcement.
Phoenix City Council member Sal DiCiccio and Jim Waring also said they would not support the petition.
“I am firmly opposed to the effort to make Phoenix a Sanctuary City. I don’t believe any local government should be able to pick and choose the laws they want to enforce,” said DiCiccio in a statement released Thursday. “Additionally, I believe such a move would be illegal and would put our officers in the unethical position of having to ignore their oath to uphold state and federal laws.”
On Tuesday, January 31, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association (PLEA) sent a letter to Stanton expressing the organization’s “strong disagreement and disappointment with recent public remarks he made on January 25th with regard to President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
|
“For far too long, law enforcement officers in America have had to put up with anti-police sentiment at all levels of government,” wrote PLEA. “At the national level our federal partners in ICE and Border Patrol have had to work under government imposed restrictions that have hindered their ability to effectively perform their jobs to adequately protect the nation.”
“Over the years, the City of Phoenix has lost numerous officers and had several others injured as a result of open border and sanctuary city policies that facilitate ease of unlawful entry into the country,” the letter continued. “As one of four border states, Arizona sees high amounts of human trafficking, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and higher rates of violent crime that typically accompany this type of activity.”
“Mayor Stanton’s comments with regard to turning the Phoenix Police Department into a mass deportation force is baseless and inflammatory. The Phoenix Police Department has a sound, detailed, well written policy in its Operations Orders regarding enforcement of illegal immigration. Despite what politicians may think or want, police officers have to uphold their oaths of office and operate according to the rule of law.” PLEA concluded, “Presidential Executive Orders are federal law that cannot be disregarded simply because they do not comport with someone’s political agenda.”
Stanton said on Thursday, “The issue of whether any Arizona city can be a so-called ‘sanctuary city’ is already settled by state law. After a lengthy court battle, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld portions of S.B. 1070 that apply to all Arizona cities – including Phoenix – nearly five years ago. Last fall, the state attorney general reached a settlement with civil rights groups, including the ACLU, on how S.B. 1070 is enforced, and Phoenix complies with those terms. We must respect the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision and rule of law – and I will not ask Phoenix Police officers to knowingly violate the law.”
The Phoenix City Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 15 is when the Council will act upon the petition as prescribed in the city charter, according to the City manager.