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EXCLUSIVE: An Arizona border county considering multiple ordinances targeting ICE will be investigated after State Senate leaders forced the Democratic attorney general to conduct a review, the top Republican in Phoenix told Fox News Digital.
Officials in Pima County, which encompasses Tucson, have directed county authorities to deny immigration enforcement agents access to county property unless they have judicial warrants. Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, told Fox News Digital that the chamber’s resolution, SB 1487, will start a 30-day clock for Mayes to respond and ultimately determine whether Pima County has violated state law or the U.S. Constitution.
Petersen, who was joined in the move by Senate President Pro-Tempore TJ Shope of Coolidge and Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh of Fountain Hills, told Fox News Digital that Democrats in places like Pima are putting "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," he said.
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Depending on Mayes' findings, the county may be required to change the policy, face a loss of state-shared revenue, or the case could be referred to the Arizona Supreme Court, Senate leadership told Fox News Digital.
"This is about making sure our laws are applied consistently across Arizona," Shope said. "When one county decides to go rogue, it creates gaps that undermine enforcement statewide. Arizonans expect coordination between all levels of government, not policies that tie the hands of law enforcement."
Kavanagh also faulted Mayes for taking a similarly confrontational tack with DHS and ICE, saying that she doesn’t get to ignore laws she disagrees with.
"Given her record and her public opposition to immigration enforcement, there is a serious question about whether she can review this case objectively. This is not a policy debate. The law is clear, and it must be applied," Kavanagh said.
Mayes made waves in recent months with some of her rhetoric, including conjecture that ICE operations could run afoul of stand-your-ground laws, according to FOX’s Phoenix affiliate.
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"I will not be deterred from speaking out or criticizing the Trump administration for its ongoing abuses of power and its trashing of our sacred Constitution," Mayes said in response in January.
She also released a statement after the DHS-involved shooting deaths of agitators in Minnesota, saying that "right-wing media" has mischaracterized her previous comments, including those regarding the "danger to public safety" posed by ICE.
Asked about such criticisms on Monday by Fox News Digital, a Mayes spokesman said, "President Trump promised to go after drug cartels, but in reality, his administration is pulling federal agents off drug cases by the thousands to target immigrant workers."
"Attorney General Mayes will continue to go after the actual threats to public safety: the drug traffickers flooding Arizona communities with fentanyl and other illicit drugs."
When reached for comment on the criticisms, a Pima County official provided text of the resolution to Fox News Digital, which read in part:
"Recent arbitrary and unfocused civil immigration activities conducted by the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have trampled on civil and constitutional rights, recklessly endangered citizens and non-citizens alike, and culminated in the deaths of detainees and peaceful protesters."
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Pima County Supervisor Jennifer Allen followed up, telling Fox News Digital, "What is there to criticize? The county’s action is in response to the egregious and abusive behavior of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Los Angeles and elsewhere in the country over the past year."
"Americans protesting this outrageous behavior were killed while peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights. Pima County has no interest in allowing property intended for the benefit of the people of Pima County to be used in support of such lawless actions by the federal government," Allen said.
She said that criticism, if any, should be directed at DHS and not at counties trying to prevent alleged abuses.
Allen added that any law enforcement with proper warrants can still access Pima property.
The county also passed a resolution seeking to prevent immigration enforcement agents from wearing face coverings, but details, including an enforcement mechanism, have yet to be ironed out, according to a county official.
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