No more catch and release of illegal migrants

A misunderstanding of the relationship between federal, criminal and immigration laws causes some to believe being in the United States in violation of immigration law is a civil issue and not a crime. This is clearly wrong.
The Constitution and Congress have given the enforcement role to local government. Unsanctioned entry into this country is a crime.
Ending sanctuary policies is a popular idea. Scores of elected officials and polling over the past few years have shown about 75 percent of voters support it. There needs to be an end to the practice of catch and release! My legislation, SB 1175, which is now HB 2280, requires officials and agencies of the state, counties, cities and towns to fully comply with and assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and makes trespassing by illegal aliens a crime.
This is a critical bill. It is also a bill that is firmly grounded in our laws and in an extraordinary number of legal decisions at every level of our justice system.
Citizens have a constitutional right to expect the protection of federal laws that prohibit unauthorized activities by non-citizens and are denied equal protection by law enforcement, police departments or magistrates that fail to enforce those laws.
This is the only law we put conditions on before a police officer can enforce it. Illegal immigrants are the only criminals we protect by policies. No other crime or criminal gets this protection by our elected officials.
Studies and reports have cited alarming statistics: Illegal aliens kill 9,000 Americans a year - 25 each day, 12 by stabbings and shootings, 13 by DUI and related crimes; more than 100 sex offenders cross the border daily committing 1 million sex crimes a year.
Phoenix runs second in the world in kidnappings and third in the United States for violence.
Arizona has become the home-invasion, carjacking, identity-theft capital of the nation. These are not statistics Arizona should be famous for.
Enough is enough. The laws must be enforced.
We have good laws. What we don't need is "comprehensive immigration reform," which is a code word for amnesty, pushed by illegal employers, while taxpayers and victims pay the price.
State and local law-enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of U.S. immigration statutes without the prior knowledge or approval of federal officials, as long as state law does not restrict such general power.
No more catch and release! Sanctuary policies are illegal. Local, state or federal government agencies that sanction or retaliate against employees or officials who report immigration-law violations to ICE or the Border Patrol can be sued by the whistle-blower law.
The courts have not identified any policy or humanitarian argument that would negate the fact that aliens are present in the United States in violation of law. The First Amendment does not protect actions that aid illegal aliens to remain in the United States.
I pledge that if we eliminate all sanctuary policies in this state, the result will be less crime and lower taxes. The costs of these crimes are far more than financial to our citizens, and HB 2280 will help make Arizona a safer place.

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Father of teen found 4 days after fatal crash seeks $10 mil

The father of a 17-year-old boy whose body was found in his wrecked car in a ditch four days after he crashed is seeking a $10 million settlement from the city, claiming Phoenix police and firefighters failed to search for the teen.
The pending wrongful-death claim suggested that first responders ignored the victim's passenger, who survived the nighttime crash, when he told them the car rolled over into trees and deep brush at the southeast corner of Cave Creek and Pinnacle Peak roads.
A Phoenix police helicopter made several passes over the area, shedding light on the scene, but police left that night without finding the vehicle. David Montoya's body was discovered four days after the Nov. 3 accident when a patrol officer returned to the scene and found the teen's body in a black Dodge Stratus overturned next to a tree.
The teen's father, Edward Montoya Sr., alleged that Phoenix police and firefighters "might have prevented his death" if he was trapped alive inside in the vehicle, according to the claim filed last month.
Jim Fickling, the family's attorney, said the city has until next week to respond to the claim within the 60-day limit. He said the family is prepared to file a lawsuit if they do not receive a response. Phoenix police declined comment, citing the pending litigation.
Fickling added the family is seeking "punitive damages that a jury would award." Edward Montoya did not return a call for comment.
David Montoya was driving southbound on Cave Creek Road around 9:30 p.m. at the time of the accident as he and 19-year-old Joshua George went to visit a friend in central Phoenix.
Police found George injured and intoxicated in the middle of Cave Creek Road after the accident.
Officers ignored George's comments because "they had reason to believe that David Montoya was hiding out with the vehicle somewhere" and wanted to "avoid facing his father over damaging the vehicle" in what they suspected was a DUI-related collision, according to the family's claim.
"A merely cursory attempt was made to locate the vehicle, despite Joshua George's statements, descriptions and injuries consistent with a rollover accident," the family wrote in the claim.
The family reported David Montoya missing after he didn't return home. On Nov. 7, four days later, a patrol officer located the vehicle upside-down in a "small copse of trees" about 70 feet off the roadway.
The claim also alleged four Phoenix police officers violated department policy and "concocted wholly fictitious and entirely erroneous theories and stories concerning David Montoya's fate" by suggesting that he fled the scene of a DUI crash.


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