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“First of all, it seems like to me they don’t have better things to do. Aren’t they supposed to be really looking after real criminals?� Nanos said Wednesday, reacting to news that the U.S. Department of Justice plans to investigate potential criminal charges against any state or local officials who stand in the way of the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws.

“There’s a lot of things the federal government could be doing. Instead, they take an enforcement path versus one of reform on their own policies and measures,â€� Nanos, a Democrat, told the ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV. “You don’t need to come after your local government officials who struggle with the same things they struggle with.â€�

“The federal taxpayer dollars that go to Border Patrol and Customs, and (the Department of Homeland Security), those are federal dollars to complete their mission. I get county taxpayer dollars to complete my mission,� Nanos said. “If they look at that as resistance or obstruction, or whatever it is, I can’t help them there … but we will not be doing immigration enforcement.�

Rex Scott, Democratic chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, told the Star the board majority’s position has remained the same since 2019: “We are dealing with the consequences of federal (immigration) policy.�

“In terms of what I understand the Justice Department talking about, they are talking about ‘well, what if local officials decide to not cooperate with whatever plans we have for deportation,’ (but) I don’t know what plans they have. They haven’t talked about that explicitly yet, other than saying that they were going to start with criminals, which is what every administration has done,� Scott said Wednesday.

“I think they ought to get back to the drawing board and work on dealing with matters associated with immigration policy that have needed to be addressed for decades, and not worry about coming after local officials who are dealing with the fact that the federal government has, for decades, failed to address necessary changes to immigration policy,� Scott said.

But Supervisor Steve Christy, the sole Republican on the county board, does not see immigration as a federal-only issue.

“That’s kind of the way that everybody has been off-handing the whole thing, is ‘we’re not going to get involved in any immigration issues because it’s a federal issue.’ Well, a lot of immigration issues cascade over into everyday life and our society,� Christy said. “If there are laws that are being broken, if there are properties and injuries being pervaded due to immigration, it certainly becomes a local issue.�

“Anyone looking to relocate here, be it an individual or a family, or business or an industry of any kind, seeing that the local government is trying to do everything it can to pull the rug out from underneath the enforcement of federal laws, it certainly sends a message that our elected officials and our law enforcement agencies are not going to hold up the law of the land, and I think that has very negative consequences,� Christy said.

In a mid-December opinion column in the Star, Tucson and Pima County officials said their legal teams were working together on a memo to guide them on Arizona Proposition 314, a “border security� measure approved by voters in November, and “any dictates� from the federal government.

Christy called this work “a horrific waste� of taxpayer money by the city and county. He also told the Star the DOJ would be justified in using its taxpayer dollars to investigate local officials “if and when the measures of law enforcement, of immigration policies, need to be enforced and there is interference.�

“Our local leaders can either comply with the law of the land or they can’t,� he said. “If they don’t, there is — I’m certain — going to be ramifications and negative consequences that really are going to be at the taxpayers’ expense.�

The Pima County Attorney’s Office, in a statement to the Star, said it “plans to continue focusing on violent and victim crime and urges federal prosecutors to continue in that shared goal.�

“Today’s three-page memo by the Department of Justice authorizes investigations into those who might violate lawful court orders. This is just another way to state the job of a prosecutor: to charge people who break the law, as appropriate,� the office said Wednesday in an email. “Lawful court orders are to be followed. On the other hand, unconstitutional directives will be challenged in court. Time will tell how new federal directives are executed.�

Shortly after President Donald Trump’s election victory in November, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said she was committed to protecting Tucson children and families from separation, and called Trump’s planned mass deportations “cruel and immoral.�

“I will work with our police chief to make sure that our focus remains on protecting and serving Tucsonans,� the Democratic mayor said in a statement published in late November. “Here in Tucson, we know how to stand up and fight against hate and racist laws. Part of our history is coming together with our faith leaders and other organizations to protect children and families from separation. I am unwavering in my commitment to this fight.�