The Pima County Democratic Party (PCDP) has gone on record supporting the Tucson Families Free and Together Initiative, which proposes amending the Tucson City Code to prevent city police officers and other city employees from detaining someone based solely on immigration status, and from helping federal officials deport people according to federal civil immigration laws.
The PCDP executive committee approved a resolution on March 4 to endorse the measure, which the grassroots group, Peoples’ Defense Initiative, hopes to place on the November ballot. PCDP Second Vice Chair Joel Feinman, who proposed the resolution, co-founded People’s Defense Initiative with Zaira Livier.
It reads as follows:
- WHEREAS the sanctuary movement was born in the City of Tucson, and
- WHEREAS the City of Tucson is an immigrant-welcoming city, and
- WHEREAS the City of Tucson acknowledges that all people have civil rights, and
- WHEREAS the City of Tucson is committed to protecting and defending those rights, and is committed to upholding the self-evident truth that all people are created equal, and
- WHEREAS the Tucson Families Free and Together initiative will codify and strengthen the City of Tucson’s commitment to protecting and defending civil rights for all people in Tucson,
- THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Pima County Democratic Party supports and endorses the Tucson Families Free and Together Initiative. The People’s Defense Initiative would amend City Code, Chapter 17, to:
- (1) prohibit city police officers and other city employees from detaining persons on the basis of a person’s immigration status;
- (2) prohibit city police officers and other city employees from assisting in the enforcement of civil federal immigration laws, except in circumstances expressly required under state and federal law;
- (3) provide for certification of certain visas for immigrant crime victims;
- (4) help ensure the effective prosecution of domestic violence and sex crimes by prioritizing criminal investigations over civil immigration investigations, and
- (5) provide for minimum record keeping and protocols for certain communications between city employees and federal law-enforcement agencies.
The initiative needs 9,241 city of Tucson registered voters’ signatures, filed with the city by 5 p.m. on July 5, to get on the ballot. For more information about the initiative, please visit the Tucson Families Free and Together website https://www.familiesfreeandtogether.org/. For more information, please email PCDP Chair Alison Jones: alison@pimadems.org