Title
Immigration Enforcement and Review of Police Operations Order 4.48
Description
This report provides the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee with information regarding Federal and State immigration laws, and the Police Department's policy on immigration enforcement found in Operations Order 4.48.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Federal Immigration
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was enacted in 1952. The INA is contained in the United States Code (U.S.C.). The U.S. Code, Title 8 covers "Aliens and Nationality." In 2015 and 2017, the House passed legislation - H.R. 3009 and H.R. 3003 respectively - that would terminate federal funding for states and localities that limit cooperation with federal enforcement agencies (frequently called "sanctuary" policies). The President issued Executive Order 13768 on Jan. 25, 2017 stating that state and local jurisdictions that do not comply with 8 U.S.C. 1373 are not eligible to receive Federal grants. On May 22, 2017 the U.S. Attorney General issued a memo stating that sanctuary jurisdictions are those that willfully refuse to comply with 8 U.S. C. 1373 and that such jurisdictions are not eligible to receive federal grants administered by the Department of Justice or Department of Homeland Security. Section 1373 prohibits state and local jurisdictions from restricting communication to federal officials of information regarding citizenship or immigration status.
History of Arizona’s Immigration Law (SB1070)
SB1070 was enacted in 2010 to address issues related to unlawful aliens in Arizona. The law was modified by Arizona House Bill 2162, later in 2010. In June 2012, the Supreme Court blocked three provisions of the Arizona law, however, upheld SB1070 Section 2(B), A.R.S. 11-1051B. This provision specifies that when an officer has a person under investigative detention for any violation of state, county or city law, and the officer has reasonable suspicion to believe the person is not lawfully in the country, the officer must make a reasonable attempt to verify the detained person’s immigration status before the person is released, unless the person has specific identification that can prove their lawful status in the United States. This provision also requires that all arrested persons, regardless of race, color or national origin, cannot be released from police custody until the officer verifies the person’s immigration status.
A 2016 Arizona Attorney General opined that law enforcement officers are allowed to ask about immigration status, and even contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “unless doing so would prolong the stop or detention.” Thus police officers are legally allowed to ask a person about immigration status on a consent contact, but they cannot detain a person or demand a person comply, or hold a person by prolonging the original stop/detention just to confirm the persons immigration status where reasonable suspicion exists the person is not lawfully in the United States.
Phoenix Police Department Operations Order 4.48
The Police Department Operations Order manual provides employees with guidelines and policies for the uniform enforcement of state, local and federal laws. It also outlines expectations of employee conduct, appearance, and other personnel matters for best practices on the delivery of police services to the community.
Operations Order 4.48 (Immigration Procedures), provides direction to officers on immigration enforcement procedures that comport with the mandates under the State's immigration law. Notable revisions have been made to this policy through the years to incorporate changes in the law and recommendations adopted by the Phoenix City Council that did not violate the State's immigration law.
The last major revision to Operations Order 4.48 occurred in July 2017 to incorporate recommendations from an Ad Hoc subcommittee formed by the Mayor to address President Trump's Executive Orders on immigration and border security. Over the course of two months, the subcommittee heard public testimony, which included concerns regarding immigration enforcement and the Police Department's immigration enforcement policy. Based on the input received, the Ad Hoc subcommittee developed six recommendations, four of which were specific to Operations Order 4.48. These recommendations were presented to the full City Council at the April 19, 2017 Formal City Council meeting and were adopted.
The revisions to Operations Order 4.48 attributed to the Ad Hoc subcommittee recommendations resulted in:
• A more modern policy similar to those from other surrounding agencies such as the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, and the Tucson and Mesa Police Departments.
• A mandate to collect data and report Police Department activity related to the City's compliance with the State's immigration law. Officers are now mandated to call the Violent Crimes Bureau (VCB) to obtain approval to contact ICE on any immigration matter to ensure officers are in compliance with state law and policy. VCB collects and maintains data relating to the disposition of all persons involved in these contacts.
• An affirmation the City does not and will not participate in the federal government's 287(g) program.
• New procedural changes with schools that foster greater trust between students and officers through the School Resource Officer program.
Training
Following the enactment of SB1070 and the revisions made to the department's immigration enforcement policy to comport with the mandates in the law, officers were required to attend a four-hour, in-person training given by the Police Department's Legal Unit and Professional Standards Bureau. In subsequent years, policy revisions have been disseminated to all employees via the Police Department's internal Employee Notification System (ENS). Law bulletins have also been drafted and disseminated to all employees to assist officers in understanding the nuances of the State's immigration law and the limitations of their lawful authority regarding immigration enforcement.
Policy Compliance
Police Department employees are required to comply with the regulations and policies contained in the Police Department's Operations Order manual and are subject to disciplinary action for failing to do so. Policy violations are most commonly identified through supervisory reviews and citizen complaints.
Specific to Operations Order 4.48, the Professional Standards Bureau conducts an annual review of the department's immigration policies, training and enforcement to measure activity recorded for the calendar year. This review began following the policy changes in 2017.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. and the Police and Law departments.