Bill would let sheriff's office join forces with Border Patrol

Sheriffs in all Arizona counties, including Yuma, will have more power to enter into agreements with the U.S. Border Patrol if Gov. Janet Napolitano gives the go-ahead.

The state Senate on Wednesday voted 18-10 to expand the power of county sheriffs to work with Customs and Border Protection as long as the primary purpose is "facilitating inter-agency communication." The only restriction is that the pact have "no financial impact to the county."

Sen. Amanda Aguirre, D-Yuma, supported the bill and said she hopes Napolitano will sign it into law. She said a strong cooperative relationship already exists in Yuma County between officials, the Yuma County Sheriff's Office and Border Patrol.

She said she hopes this will make it easier for law enforcement across Arizona to follow that example.

"I work very closely with our (Yuma sector Border Patrol Chief Paul Beeson) and our (Sheriff Ralph Ogden)," Aguirre said. "Through our conversations we know that, in Yuma County, when we share information with law enforcement in cases that we have illegal immigrants being arrested ... We've been able to find criminals that have a history in Mexico, that have a violations already."

Yuma sector Border Patrol officials are also supportive of the bill.

"It's, of course, something we support. Anything that any law enforcement agency can do for each other is helping," said Agent Eric Anderson, spokesman for the Yuma sector.

But he concurred Yuma is generally doing fine without it. He said Border Patrol has established good relations with local city and county agencies that make all their jobs easier.

"It's kind of different for Border Patrol for us to have good relations with everybody in town," Anderson said.

HB 2359 applies to all 15 counties, including Yuma. But it was crafted specifically to help Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik who has so far been unable to get the blessing of Pima County supervisors for his program.

If signed by the governor - the bill already has cleared the House - Dupnik would no longer need their permission.

Deputy Dawn Hanke said Wednesday that Dupnik will proceed with his plan if Napolitano, a Democrat like the sheriff, signs the bill.

Dupnik said the need stems from incidents where his own agency's border crimes unit has been patrolling the desert, often at night, and run into Border Patrol officers. He said having Border Patrol officers working with his unit - and communicating with the federal agency - will prevent problems.

Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias said Wednesday night he intends to ask Napolitano to veto the bill.

"It is an issue of local control," he said. "It's also an issue of overkill."

He said Dupnik, like all county sheriffs, has the power to deputize anyone he wants.

But Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, who sponsored the legislation on Dupnik's behalf, said that's only half the story.

Paton said the Border Patrol wanted a specific intergovernmental agreement with Pima County before allowing its officers to be deputized. And that, he said, requires board approval.

Elias said the board has never rejected Dupnik's request to sign that pact. In fact, he said, the item was on the board's agenda before the sheriff asked for it to be removed.

"Well, yeah, you weren't going to vote for it," Paton responded to Elias' comments. He said Dupnik withdrew the request only after it became clear "he wasn't going to get the votes."

That, said Paton, led to the legislation.

YCSO officials say they routinely work with Border Patrol agents and other officers from adjacent agencies, in tasks ranging from narcotics enforcement to canine training. Some of these require intergovernmental agreements, others are just part of the normal routine of patrolling the rural border.

"We do a number of things working together almost on a daily basis," YCSO's Maj. Leon Wilmot said.

Yuma County District 4 Supervisor Tony Reyes said he was concerned about any bill that took authority away from all county boards just to solve a dispute in Pima.

"Those people should work their differences out," he said.

But he added that there had never been notable instances in Yuma where the board halted work between YCSO and the Border Patrol.

"There's almost an unwritten agreement between law enforcement to help each other out. I think that's a given," Reyes said.

Paton said opposition to the measure has come from the Border Action Network and other immigrant rights groups who have "conspiracy theories" that having deputized Border Patrol agents is part of a plan to have the sheriff's department start looking for illegal immigrants. Paton said that's why the legislation specifically requires that the primary purpose of any agreement be to facilitate communication, though the language of the bill does not limit the role of Border Patrol officers solely to making radio links between the agencies.

And Dupnik has said he is not interested in enforcing federal immigration law or broadening the mission of either agency but instead is concerned only about officer safety.

The five senators whose districts include part of Pima County are split on the issue.

Democrat Marsha Arzberger of Willcox and Republican Tim Bee of Tucson voted for the bill. Jorge Garcia, Paula Aboud and Victor Soltero, all Tucson Democrats were opposed. Democrat Charlene Pesquiera was absent on Wednesday.

Aguirre said she's aware of the opposition to this bill from some Hispanic groups but she said making it easier for law enforcement agencies to work together was essential to keeping crime down on the border.

"Having that information is key for us to fight gangs and fight all of the problems that we have on our border," Aguirre said.


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Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services contributed to this report.