Requires Arizona state and local law enforcement to honor federal immigration detainers and cooperate with ICE operations. Creates a new state immigration enforcement fund. Critics argue it creates liability for Fourth Amendment violations when officers detain people without probable cause of a crime.
Federal courts have repeatedly ruled that immigration detainers are requests, not commands — meaning they don’t provide independent legal authority to detain someone. If a person has been released on bail or served their time, detaining them further based solely on an ICE detainer — without a judicial warrant — may constitute an unlawful seizure under the Fourth Amendment.
Multiple federal circuit courts have found that counties that honor detainers without judicial warrants can be held civilly liable for Fourth Amendment violations. This bill creates that liability for Arizona.
Arizona’s 2010 SB 1070 — the “show me your papers” law — was partly struck down by the Supreme Court in Arizona v. United States (2012). The Court held that states cannot create their own immigration enforcement schemes that conflict with or supplement federal immigration law. SB 1403 raises similar preemption concerns.