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Immigration heats council races

2 hopefuls want Phoenix police to contact feds

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 31, 2005 12:00 AM

Although illegal immigration is a controversial issue that candidates often avoid, some Phoenix City Council candidates have tackled it in their campaigns.

Voters will decide Sept. 13 who will get the seats in Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8.

Mark Warren, who is running for a seat in District 2 against Councilwoman Peggy Neely and André Campos, takes issue with a Phoenix Police Department policy that discourages officers from contacting federal immigration officials when they encounter undocumented immigrants during routine matters such as traffic stops.

Those directives are part of the Police Department's mutual aid policy that outlines how Phoenix police interact with other law enforcement agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It outlines that police officers will not contact ICE when undocumented people are victims or witnesses of a crime, when contacted during a family disturbance or when they're seeking medical attention.

Police said federal immigration officials will not respond to such calls and said that is why police officers are directed not to call.

Warren said police officers should be allowed to enforce immigration laws because, he said, a majority of violent and drug-related crimes involve undocumented immigrants.

"We cannot wait until the federal government does something about this," he said.

Neely acknowledged that neighborhoods are the hardest hit by immigration issues.

"That is something that we have to continue to work on with our federal government to find a solution," she said.

Campos calls illegal immigration a "threat to public safety and a . . . threat to the financial safety of the city."

"We can no longer tolerate grandstanding and pandering politicians who keep local law enforcement on the sidelines as spectators," he said. "I would remove the handcuffs from law enforcement and allow them to enforce immigration laws on violent, criminal illegal aliens."

He said that he doesn't advocate "rounding up all the guys who are here to work" but that violence and other crimes should be investigated thoroughly when warranted.



Candidates in other races believe the issue has to be looked at on a broader, national scale.

"It's part of a national policy," said Warren Severin, who is running against Greg Stanton in District 6. "We have to recognize that Arizona is an influential state . . . and that Phoenix will by playing a major role in crafting that national policy."

Severin said any approach should include a program that would get undocumented immigrants officially contributing to the system that they're already a part of, including contributions to Social Security and Medicare. It would also include strengthening the border to make it less attractive for them to enter this country illegally and more appealing to enter legally.

"I don't think the city of Phoenix has the resources, whether the number of police officers or financial resources, that every time we find an illegal immigrant to put them in a squad car and throw them in jail," Severin said.

Stanton said that although illegal immigration is primarily a federal issue, it does greatly affect the community.

"There has to be a partnership between the city and state and federal officials to deal with these issues," Stanton said. "I support Senator John McCain in his efforts to deal with the issue on a more comprehensive basis."

Chad Campbell, a candidate in District 4, said city officials' responsibility is to enforce existing city laws.

"It's not a city issue in any way," Campbell said. "It's a federal issue . . . that needs to be dealt with by the federal government."

Jarrett Maupin, a candidate in District 8, said that in terms of policing, "yes the police could do more to crack down on illegal human trafficking."



He said he won't tolerate people who use "undocumented workers to watch their children, to cook their food, make their beds and cut their lawn and then want to stand out in public and make comment about what a burden they are on our system."

Sylvia "Pinky" Moreno said there should be a collaborative effort among cities, counties and states affected by immigration issues.

"We're all facing the same issues," she said. "We should all be talking and looking at how we are going to address them. Whatever we do, there needs to be an open dialogue and we should be talking to people at a federal level."

She said it wasn't an issue that could simply be addressed with just one solution.