Pinal County Attorney uses ICE partnership to fight violent crime

Pinal County joins ICE under controversial 287(g) program

The Pinal County Attorney's Office is partnering with ICE to enforce immigration laws and target violent offenders who are in the country illegally, county attorney Brad Miller announced. FOX 10's Ashlie Rodriguez has the details.

PINAL COUNTY, Ariz. - The Pinal County Attorney's Office is partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce immigration laws and target violent offenders who are in the country illegally, County Attorney Brad Miller announced.

What we know:

Under the 287(g) program, Miller said his office and ICE will join task forces targeting child and drug traffickers, domestic violence and crimes against children. He noted that immigration issues are a precursor to some of those violent crimes and the partnership will allow the county to address the source.

Miller said the 287(g) partnership with ICE will work by using targeted intelligence, going after specific individuals who have been under investigation and using search warrants granted by a judge.

In return for identifying, detaining and helping ICE deport these immigrants, Pinal County will gain access to federal resources, including extra manpower and money.

"Say we see a very dangerous individual who has been committing child trafficking, and he also happens to be an illegal immigrant. We now ask ICE to bring some of their team, their SWAT team, to assist us with that operation," Miller said.

The other side:

Ricardo Reyes, executive director for VetsForward, expressed community concerns about the program's execution.

"The worries from the community is that that’s all a lie. The worries from the community is that we’ve already seen that ICE has been going into people’s homes without warrants, that they’ve been arresting people. These people aren’t guilty yet. And when they go, and they’re held at your prison, now they’re being automatically screened and a lot of them are being deported," Reyes said.

County Attorney Miller said he agreed to the partnership to keep Pinal County safe. However, critics were quick to point out that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, not a local one.

While Miller is confident the extra federal resources will cover the cost, other agencies that have implemented similar agreements have reported costs totaling millions in overtime and legal challenges.

Arizona Rep. Adelita Grijalva responded to the partnership, saying, "Deputizing local police for federal immigration enforcement doesn’t improve public safety - it undermines the community trust real safety depends on. It’s no surprise that MAGA officials are lashing out to defend Trump’s unaccountable and cruel enforcement machine. Our communities do not want more chaos - they want safety, stability, and transparency."