'Our government has failed': Arizona sheriffs address public safety concerns as Title 42 nears end
Three Arizona sheriffs warned Thursday's expiration of pandemic-era Title 42 restrictions on immigration will strain their resources and used the occasion to call the nation's immigration system a failure.
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and Chief Deputy Bret Axlund of the Coconino County Sheriff's Office said the changes in federal policy would lead to more migrant encounters at the border and would affect communities across Arizona.
Title 42 was applied by the Trump administration, and continued by the Biden White House, to rapidly expel migrants nearly 2.8 million times over more than three years. Border officials will return to fully enforcing Title 8 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the policy that existed before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Penzone said the expiration of Title 42 was not the impetus of the problem but "just another straw on the camel's back."
"When I say this, I'm not pointing my finger to an administration or individual or anyone in particular, but, collectively, it is my opinion, that our government has failed its people," Penzone said. "It has failed its people for decades now. Because the insecurity of our border is a federal responsibility, but it has become a local problem.
"The idea that we're not capable of securing our border and improving and addressing the failures in our immigration system is nonsense," Penzone said. "We can continue to be a welcoming nation of people of all walks of life ... And we can be disciplined."
Penzone acknowledged that his office is barred by a federal court order from helping enforce immigration laws, but he and his peers said Wednesday an influx of migrants to Arizona would drain their resources. They called for greater partnership with federal agencies, border sheriffs and law enforcement across the state.
Each man said his agency should be reimbursed by state and federal governments for the resources spent addressing what they called a federal responsibility.
Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes is the president of the Arizona Sheriff's Association. He appealed for federal agencies to coordinate with local law enforcement before processing migrants and releasing them in Arizona to await court hearings on their status.
"Those drop-offs in different communities around the state need to be communicated to the local government, and to public safety and law enforcement in those communities," Rhodes said. "We need to know that so that we can react and deal with it accordingly."
Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2024, said the issue was broader.
"This is not just a border issue, or a border state issue," Lamb said. "This is an American issue."
Lamb said he believed the federal government would be releasing migrants into Cochise County, Yuma County, Tucson and Casa Grande.
"We expect to see a lot of these groups being released, which is going to tax our resources," Lamb said. "As temperatures start to increase, we're going to see a lot more search-and-rescue calls out in the desert. So, we expect to expend a lot of resources with our aviation unit doing search and rescue."
Earlier this week, Bisbee said it was seeing releases from the Douglas port of entry. The people were transferred to a shelter in Tucson.
On Monday, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the creation of a joint information command center to prepare for an expected influx of migrants at the state's southern border.
Underway: Immigrants already being released in southern Arizona, bused to Tucson, as Title 42 end nears
Have a news tip? Reach the reporter at jjenkins@arizonarepublic.com or at 812-243-5582. Follow him on Twitter @JimmyJenkins.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: AZ sheriffs call for partnership as border restrictions about to lift
