Guest Opinion: The
Recent news articles and a variety of community discussions on the
issues of illegal immigration have
raised questions regarding the prosecution policies of the Pima
County Attorney’s Office.
The question most frequently asked is “Does the Pima County Attorney
prosecute illegal immigrants?”
The answer is yes, we do.
When an illegal immigrant is arrested for a violation of state law,
such as homicide, drive-by-shooting, sexual assault, robbery, we
prosecute. Just last week, Humberto Araujo, an illegal, was
sentenced to 21 years for the killing of two persons. There are
currently almost 200 illegal entrants being prosecuted by my office
for burglary, auto theft, drug trafficking, drunk driving and other
crimes.
Protecting the public safety of this community is a responsibility I
take very seriously. We prosecute all crimes illegal immigrants
commit while in
My office is also aggressive in presenting evidence of criminal
defendants’ illegal presence in the
However, an important distinction must be made between state law and
federal law. The
The U.S. Department of Justice is required to use federal tax
dollars to fund its prosecutors operations to enforce immigration
laws. Prosecuting persons for illegal entry into this country is a
violation of federal law, not state law, and should not become a
burden that property owners fund with our local property tax
dollars.
Our limited county criminal justice resources must be devoted to
prosecuting the thousands and thousands and thousands of state
felony and misdemeanor crimes that threaten and endanger the public
safety of the citizens of this county every year.
Another question asked is “Does the Pima County Attorney prosecute
illegal workers?” The answer is yes, we do. We prosecute cases
involving workers using forged documents or employers hiring illegal
workers where there is sufficient evidence presented to us by law
enforcement agencies or by members of the public.
As your
Barbara LaWall,