A fight brewing over whether the Pima County Board of Supervisors can kick U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers out of the county-run jail might be over.
Deputy County Attorney Regina Nassen told supervisors in a confidential memo last week that such a decision largely rests with Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier and not the supervisors.
The sheriff β not the board β has general authority to operate the jail, and while the board controls the sheriffβs budget and has authority to make a few other specific fiscal decisions concerning jail operations, it cannot do so in a way that unreasonably interferes with the sheriffβs discretionary decisions, she wrote.
The board voted on Tuesday to release the 13-page legal analysis, including a letter sent by the American Civil Liberties Union that outlined legal arguments as to how the supervisors could force Napierβs hand and push out the federal agency.
Nassen repeatedly countered the legal analysis.
βThe ACLU Memo incorrectly analyzes the legal authorities cited in it and ignores other relevant Arizona authorities addressing the scope or the Boardβs authority over elected officials. As a result, it materially overstates the Boardβs authority over the operation of the jail,β Nassen wrote.
The legal opinion is unlikely to quiet the increased calls from the public for the county to formally sever its ties to ICE.
During their Tuesday morning meeting, several residents encouraged the supervisors to take bold action and ignore the advice from what they are labeling as an overly cautious county attorney.
Supervisor Richard ElΓas is adamant that he wants the federal agency out of the county-run jail.
βWe want them out of there,β he said. βI want them out of there, and I know that I am not the only one.β
The calls to push ICE out reached a peak two weeks ago at the last supervisors meeting, with several activists making their case directly to elected officials.
ElΓas said the county has enough trouble just keeping things running without dealing with immigration issues.
βIt is a tangled-up mess operating the jail,β ElΓas said.
He said he believes ICE can operate in the Tucson community without being inside the jail, noting that former Sheriff Clarence Dupnik worked with the feds for decades without the federal presence in the jail.
The conversation on Tuesday is only the beginning, ElΓas said, with supervisors getting a better understanding of their legal authority regarding the day-to-day operations at the jail.
ElΓas said he wonβt back down.
βI think there is going to be a showdown,β he predicted.
Supervisor Sharon Bronson agreed with her Democratic colleague, saying that ICE officers do not belong inside the Pima County jail.
But there isnβt consensus about that on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
The newest member, Republican Steve Christy, sees no reason to remove ICE from the county jail.
βIt is extremely efficient, there are no costs involved, it protects the public, and I think the sheriff has done a remarkable job,β Christy said.
Christy said he has spoken to Napier several times on the subject, describing ICEβs presence inside the jail as a federal agent operating out of a single, relatively small room.
The supervisor added that a majority of his constituents are supportive of ICE inside the jail and that the local criticism of the federal agency inside the jail has only bubbled up recently.
It is unclear what steps the supervisors may take on the issue, although the board is scheduled next month to discuss a million dollar federal border-security grant known as Operation Stonegarden that covers overtime, mileage and equipment costs for the Sheriffβs Department.
