EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A civil rights organization is demanding records from two of the largest police forces in Arizona amid reports some officers may be sharing immigration status information from individuals with federal agencies.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona in June requested text communications involving cellphones, electronic devices and telephone apps between Phoenix Police Department personnel and the Department of Homeland Security and its subagencies. The group also asked for emails, images, videos, social media posts and documents involving such interaction and incident reports involving Phoenix Immigration Court.
The latter request came in response to police involvement in issuing trespassing warnings in May to activists present as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested immigrants at the courthouse on North 7th Avenue.
In late July, ACLU sued the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for not delivering on a separate records request dating back to mid-May.
The sheriff came under advocates’ scrutiny after a nonprofit news publication alleged deputies turned over 16 migrants to the U.S. Border Patrol in 2022 and 2023. The Arizona Luminaria further reported concerns that officers may not be reporting all interaction with federal immigration agencies as per current Sheriff’s Deprtment policy.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told KOLD the ACLU’s request is broad and it will take time for his office to compile records.
“We will not be doing anything with immigration other than assisting them. We will not do their job for them,” Nanos told KOLD this week.
This is only the latest controversy involving how local officials in Arizona are responding to the Trump administration’s efforts to detain migrants in their communities.
Earlier this week, the president of the Arizona state Senate asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate his colleague state Sen. Analise Ortiz for posting information on ongoing ICE raids in the Phoenix area.
Ortiz took to social media to defend her freedom of expression and desire to hold other government agencies accountable.
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