Tucson Sanctuary City Question Qualifies For Nov. 5 Ballot

TUCSON, AZ — Voters will decide whether to make Tucson Arizona’s first “sanctuary city” after backers of the measure gathered enough signatures to put it on the Nov. 5 election ballot, according to officials.

Organizers of the “Tucson Families Free and Together” referendum gathered 18,000 signatures, thousands more than required, the Arizona Daily Star reported Monday.

The Pima County Republican Party has said it will file a lawsuit requiring a thorough examination of the signatures, the only path to get that under Arizona law. The Pima County Recorder’s Office said its random sample of 871 signatures showed 72 percent of them were valid.

As of Monday, no lawsuit had been filed, The Star reported.

Tucson has labeled itself an “immigrant-welcoming city” since 2012, but becoming a sanctuary city would put give authorities legal authority to enforce many immigrant-friendly initiatives currently in place.

Tucson Families Free and Together said the sanctuary city proposal would address both immigration and criminal justice. One problem, the group said on its website, is that immigrants who don’t speak fluent English, are dressed in a particular way or are homeless are profiled by police as undcoumented.

“In its current policy, Tucson fully embraces this problematic guidance, even though portions of it are likely unconstitutional,” the group says. “Sanctuary in Tucson would end this form of race-based policing.”

If Tucson becomes a sanctuary city:

• Local police would no longer be allowed to ask about immigration status in hospitals, houses of worship and courthouses. They’re currently prohibited from asking the question in schools.
• Local police would no longer be allowed to ask about immigration status during certain traffic stops.
• Local police would be required to prioritize their role as first responders when investigating sex-related and domestic violence crimes. The group promoting sanctuary city status said victims,survivors and witnesses fear that if they report such problems, they’ll be deported.
• ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents would be prohibited from stopping people in Tucson for routine traffic offenses, a practice the group says has been occurring. Federal law prohibits such action, but an obscure Arizona law allows it in certain instances.
• Fewer people arrested for misdemeanor crimes would have their immigration status checked on the scene.
• Local officers making traffic stops would have to tell drivers when they can leave the scene.
• Local officers would be prohibited from conducting traffic stops at Border Patrol checkpoints.
• Local police could no longer arrest people for illegally entering the country.
• Local police making traffic stops could no longer ask most passengers about their immigration status.
• People who are questioned about immigration matters would have to be read their Miranda rights.
• The city of Tucson would no longer assist in deportation training.
• Dispatchers taking racially motivated 911 calls would no longer be allowed to forward them to Border Patrol authorities.
• Local police would be required to promptly consider applications for a non-immigrant “U Visa,” set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity, and further encourage them to engage with police.