TUCSON, Arizona- May 9, 2024- Arizona’s border County Attorneys meet the Arizona Legislature’s attempt to revive the 2010 “Show Me Your Papers” SB1070 with mixtures of concern, frustration, and disdain. HCR2060 attempts, once again, to criminalize the mere presence of our area residents in a way that undermines public safety and drains limited local resources.
Arguably the border’s most aggressive prosecutor, Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre (R), sent out a warning yesterday to all State Sheriffs and County Attorneys:
“The striker (bill) is facially unconstitutional. The criminal provisions are unenforceable, bad public policy, and embarrassing for this state.”
Yuma County Attorney, Jon Smith, commented:
“Clearly, the federal government has the sole authority to regulate immigration and enforce the same, and the handling of such has been lacking, at best, over the last two or so decades. But this, once again, places the burden on local agencies, including law enforcement and detention facilities, criminal justice practitioners and courts, to name a few, to use their already strained resources to order to pick up where the federal government left off- and with the local residents footing the bill in order to regulate a federal and national concern.”
And Pima County Attorney Laura Conover adds the following:
“As a lifelong Tucsonan, I watched in 2010 as our Tucson Police Department grappled with the safety implications of half our community feeling vulnerable and targeted because of the color of their skin. I watched Public Safety take a hit, I watched major economic fallout, I watched national embarrassment, and I watched brain drain out of the University Main and Law campuses. Now, as Pima’s top law enforcement official, I need all of our neighborhoods to trust our police and to participate as victims and witnesses in holding accountable those who would do us harm. When it comes to HCR2060, I hope wisdom prevails.”
Brian McIntyre is the Cochise County Attorney
Jon Smith is the Yuma County Attorney
Laura Conover is the Pima County Attorney
