The Pinal County Board of Supervisors blocked County Attorney Brad Miller’s plan to create a joint task force with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ruling that Miller lacked the authority to sign the federal agreement without board approval.
The Pinal County Board of Supervisors blocked County Attorney Brad Miller’s plan to launch a joint task force with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, asserting that Miller lacked the legal authority to enter the agreement.
The decision effectively voids a task force model of the 287 program that Miller announced last month. Under that agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, local law enforcement investigators would have partnered with ICE agents to detian undocumented immigrants during the execution of warrants."He was not authorized to sign that agreement without our approval," said Board Chairman Jeffrey McClure. "He did. And we disapproved it."The move followed a heated public comment session where residents voiced starkly different views on the federal partnership.Opponents of the plan argued the task force would cause panic within the community. One resident told the board she advises her family not to leave the house without a passport. Others argued that immigration enforcement should remain a federal responsibility rather than a local one.Supporters of the plan, however, accused the board of prioritizing the protection of "illegal aliens" over public safety, arguing the task force was necessary to target individuals involved in serious crimes.Miller remained defiant following the board's decision, challenging the supervisors to provide legal justification for their claim that the contract is void.The Board of Supervisors says our 287 agreement is "void." Prove it. Since December, we have repeatedly asked the Board for the legal authority supporting that claim, and they have provided none to our office. A claim without communication does not justify pulling our ICE partners off the street and weakening public safety. If the Board truly stands with our ICE partners, it should place this issue on the agenda for the next Board meeting and ratify the agreement. We stand with President Trump and our federal law enforcement partners.While the task force model was rejected, Pinal County continues to operate under a "jail enforcement model" of the 287 program. Under that existing agreement—which is also used by the Arizona Department of Corrections—jail staff can inquire about the citizenship of any person arrested and turn them over to ICE if they are in the country illegally, regardless of whether they have been convicted of a crime.
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