By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Key Points:
- GOP lawmaker wants attorney general to investigate cities over ordinances regarding ICE
- Probe would focus on when restricting ICE from city properties
- Tucson mayor contends ordinance is legal
Contending the move is illegal, a Republican lawmaker wants Attorney General Kris Mayes to investigate – and presumably bring legal action against – cities that refuse to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement to operate on their property.
Rep. Quang Nguyen acknowledges that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the “commandeering” of state resources. And that, said the Prescott Valley Republican, bars the federal government from compelling states “to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.”
But Nguyen points out that there also is a state law which bars cities from adopting policies that “limit or restrict the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.” And that, he said in a letter to Mayes, preempts the ability of cities to ban ICE from using municipal property, even as a staging area.
