Phoenix Council to vote on barring immigration agents from city property without approval

PHOENIX — The Phoenix City Council will vote next week on new framework to monitor and limit federal immigration enforcement activities.

The city council released the draft Community Transparency Initiative on Friday, nearly six weeks after initially directing staff to develop the plan.

The initiative, presented in a staff report for the March 25 council meeting, does several things to add a layer of local oversight to federal law enforcement:

• Establishes a complaint portal for residents to report alleged crimes or civil rights violations by federal agents
• Assigns additional police detectives to investigate such claims
• Restricts use of city property for civil immigration enforcement operations

“Fear is spreading through our neighborhoods, and that fear is making Phoenix less safe,” Councilwoman Betty Guardado said when the council first approved developing the initiative in February. “When people are afraid to call for help or report crime, public safety breaks down.”

ICE complaint system created for residents

Under the proposed plan, residents could file complaints about federal immigration enforcement through a multilingual platform called Sivil, administered by the city’s Office of Accountability and Transparency.

Two additional detectives would be assigned to the Phoenix Police Department’s Special Investigations Detail to review complaints and determine whether federal agents violated state or local criminal laws.

If evidence exists for charges, the Phoenix Police Department would refer cases to a charging agency.

Reports alleging civil rights violations would be forwarded to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for review. If the initiative is approved, the city would develop a memorandum of understanding with the attorney general’s office to formalize the relationship.

While the city admits that few cases would end in criminal prosecution, the information gathered “would be valuable for potential future civil action, if necessary,” the draft initiative reads.

Proposal could limit how ICE uses city property

That proposal would block ICE from using city-owned and city-controlled property as “a staging area, processing location or operations base for civil law enforcement actions,” unless approved by the City Manager or one of their employees.

The restrictions are written to expire in 2029.

Initiative includes detailed data collection and resource tracking

City staff would track resources used during incidents involving federal law enforcement, including staff time, first responder call information and specific incident types — such as use of aerosol irritants against community members.

The police and fire departments, along with the Office of Accountability and Transparency, would conduct the tracking. A staff member would also monitor impacts to small businesses and the local economy.

City staff have also prepared guidelines and training videos for employees who may encounter federal enforcement officials, including a staff script, incident report template and resource cards with supervisor contact information.

On March 4, the Phoenix City Council authorized $1 million for legal counsel from the law firm Coppersmith Brockelman on matters related to federal actions impacting the city.

“Phoenix cannot allow fear to replace trust,” Guardado said in February. “This council is acting with urgency because our community needs clarity, protection and leadership right now.”

A vote is scheduled for March 25 at 2:30 PM.

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