An opponent of the Arizona ICE Act displays a poster referencing the message welcoming refugees inscribed on the Statue of Liberty at the Arizona Capitol on Feb. 10, 2025. Republican lawmakers have moved to require cooperation between ICE officials and every law enforcement agency in the state, which critics say could help facilitate President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. Photo by Gloria Gomez | Arizona Mirror
Democratic lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates rallied at the state Capitol on Monday in opposition of a Republican push to require police departments across the state to work with federal immigration officials, potentially facilitating President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.
The GOP-backed legislation, dubbed the Arizona ICE Act, instructs all of Arizona’s law enforcement agencies to use their “best efforts to support the enforcement of federal immigration laws” and requires them to enter into 287(g) agreements, or join similar federal programs, by next year. The bill mandates that at least 10% of officers in every law enforcement agency in the state participate in the program.
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Under a 287(g) agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials train and deputize local police officers to carry out specific immigration enforcement duties in order to expand the reach of ICE officials and increase the rate of deportations. Those duties include screening people in custody, issuing orders to lengthen a person’s detainment to determine their legal status and serving administrative warrants – which involve a lower standard of probable cause than a criminal warrant — to people who have been arrested or are in jail and who’ve been found to be subject to deportation.
Five agencies in Arizona currently participate in the program: La Paz County Sheriff’s Office, Mesa Police Department, Arizona Department of Corrections, Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
Republicans in Arizona have long embraced hardline immigration policies, and the party’s hostility has only increased in the past few years, echoing trends at the federal level and responding to a perceived mandate from voters. Last year, Arizonans expanded the GOP majority at the state legislature by three seats, backed a presidential candidate who vowed to expel 11 million undocumented people from the country and passed Prop. 314, which makes it a state crime for migrants to cross the state’s southern border anywhere but at an official port of entry.
Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican from Gilbert who authored the Arizona ICE Act, pointed to the 62% of Arizonans who voted for Prop. 314 as proof that a more proactive approach to immigration enforcement is called for.
“Arizona voters spoke loud and clear last November,” he said in a written statement accompanying the introduction of his Senate Bill 1164. “They overwhelmingly approved the ‘Secure the Border Act’ that Republicans referred to the ballot because they want the law enforced, and they want safe communities.”
The move to increase the use of 287(g) agreements in red states has ramped up in the wake of Trump’s election. And immigrant advocacy organizations are sounding the alarm over the dangers posed by the federal program. Coupled with Trump’s recent action expanding the “border zone” in which federal officials can suspend a person’s due process rights to fast-track deportation proceedings, advocates are concerned of the potential for racial profiling.
Reports have found that the presence of a 287(g) agreement creates an environment rife for discrimination. A 2011 investigation from the Department of Justice identified rampant racial profiling practices and a pattern of constitutional violations after Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office entered into a 287(g) agreement during Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s tenure. The investigation estimated that Latino drivers in some parts of the county were up to nine times more likely to be stopped than non-Latino drivers.
Democrats in Arizona are pushing back by proposing legislation that seeks to shield undocumented people from police officer inquiries about their legal status and make it harder for law enforcement agencies to voluntarily hand over information about people in their custody without a court order.
Senate Bill 1362 and House Bill 2807 would bar city, county and state law enforcement officers from stopping, searching, questioning, or arresting anyone based on a suspicion that they are in the country without authorization. They would also forbid law enforcement officials and health care facilities from asking about a person’s citizenship status except when it’s necessary to determine their eligibility for public benefits. And unless a federal immigration officer has a court order or a warrant issued by a judge, cities and officers would be forbidden from sharing information about anyone in custody or allowing them access to property or databases.
The bills, titled the “Immigrant Trust Act,” are headed for a dead end in the legislature, where Republicans control which bills get heard and which die in committee without ever being considered. But Democrats said there’s still value in proposing the legislation so that undocumented Arizonans know they have allies at the state Capitol.
“We want those young children to know that we are advocating for them, we’re advocating for their parents,” said Rep. Cesar Aguilar, D-Phoenix, who co-sponsored the House version.
Sen. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, who sponsored the iteration in the Senate, said that the bill represents the Democrats’ “vision” for the state. She added that it serves to contrast the Republican plan, which Democrats believe is the wrong move for both civil rights and public safety.
“When you have families who are afraid to call the police to report a crime because they could be torn apart from their family, that does not make our communities safe,” she said.
Ortiz said only Congress can resolve the state’s struggle with immigration, but that she and her colleagues can take action to try and minimize the harm for Arizona’s undocumented residents.
“The ultimate solution is a permanent pathway to citizenship, which we need on the federal level,” she said. “We can’t pass a permanent pathway to citizenship here, but we can call on our federal delegation to do that and, in the meantime, we can introduce our vision of how to protect people on the state level.”
While the Democrats’ proposal is headed for the legislative waste bin, the Arizona ICE Act is unlikely to be passed into law, either. Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, has previously vetoed proposals that could lead to discrimination. And her approach to border security is far less aggressive than what Republicans are requesting, focused instead on allocating funds for communities and law enforcement agencies located near the border.
Christian Slater, Hobbs’ spokesman, said that she disagrees with GOP attempts to force local law enforcement officials to defer to federal officials.
“Arizonans should decide what’s best for Arizona,” Slater said in a written statement. “We should not have bureaucracies and politicians from Washington, D.C., decide what’s best for our state. We shouldn’t tie the hands of Arizona law enforcement when the federal government is getting it wrong.”
Hobbs has been critical of Trump’s mass deportation plans. But Republicans continue to be hopeful that she might support their border security priorities, given her equally harsh criticism of the federal government’s inaction during the Biden administration last year.
And with the 2026 election on the horizon, Hobbs has sought to straddle the middle ground on border security. She has sent National Guard troops to the border and set aside millions for border security and fentanyl interdiction, while simultaneously vetoing legislation that would allow state judges and local police to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the border illegally. And she’s panned Trump’s mass deportation campaign, but lauded the passage of the Laken Riley bill, which forces the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented people accused of low-level crimes, like shoplifting, even before they’ve been proven guilty and could lead to the dismantlement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
While Slater criticized the Arizona ICE Act, and touted Hobbs’ actions to “secure our border and keep communities safe,” he didn’t respond to questions about whether the governor plans to veto the bill if it makes it to her desk.
And that decision might not be one she’s forced to make. The Arizona ICE Act has yet to be heard in committee, despite being placed on the agenda twice in as many weeks. Kim Quintero, a spokeswoman for the Arizona Senate, said that Petersen is still working on the bill and it might finally be heard next week. Bills are often held if stakeholders have concerns that need addressing or if not enough lawmakers are on board to ensure their passage.
Currently, no law enforcement agency or city has registered in support of the Arizona ICE Act, and the city of Tucson has signed up in opposition. Previously, law enforcement officials have complained about lawmakers increasing their responsibilities without setting aside funding to fulfill them. Republicans are just now in the process of allocating money for Prop. 314, a measure that passed last year allowing police officers to arrest migrants, despite repeated calls to do so while the proposal was moving through the legislature.
The Arizona ICE Act includes provisions that set aside state funds for law enforcement agencies to join federal immigration enforcement programs, but the exact amount is still blank.
Outside the legislative buildings on Monday, Arizonans gathered to demonstrate against the Arizona ICE Act and Trump’s mass deportation plans. Shouts of “No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, these racist bills have got to go!” resounded across the Capitol complex as protestors took several turns around the legislative plaza, brandishing handmade signs reading “Stop the Arizona ICE Act”, and “Stop the raids”.
The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations across the Valley and at the state Capitol in response to anti-immigrant policies. Organizers, including progressive group Living United for Change and Latino and environmental justice organization Chispa Arizona, encouraged attendees to continue making their voices heard and reminded them to show up again next week to remind lawmakers of their opposition.
Roberto Reveles, a long time immigrant rights activist and former president of the Arizona branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, compared the Arizona ICE Act to SB1070, the state’s notorious 2010 “show me your papers” law that led to rampant racial profiling and was later deemed mostly unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Reveles recalled that a boycott movement in response to SB1070 caused the state to lose out on $140 million when businesses and conventions passed the state over for their events.
He pointed to the recent spike in hostile legislation as an indication that it’s time to prompt another boycott.
“We reminded the legislators that: ‘So long as you continue flooding our state with anti-immigrant legislation we will support a boycott of people coming to Arizona,’” he said. “Brothers and sisters, it’s time for us to look at that toolkit again.”
Abril Gallardo Cervera, an organizer with LUCHA, called for compassion for immigrants in Arizona.
“Immigrants aren’t the problem, and they are not just part of the solution,” she said. “We are your neighbors, your friends, your family. And we are parents and children with hopes and dreams and every right to pursue a safe, dignified life safe from prosecution and state violence.”
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