Arizona political battle over border rages as local governments choose whether to cooperate with ICE

National news constantly highlights the turmoil at the Arizona—where red desert dust swirls and cacti rise like sentinels—the people living closest to the issue face a daily reality shaped by more than headlines. Amid this rugged landscape, a political battle simmers as local leaders grapple with balancing community safety and the broader national immigration debate.

Kathleen Winn, chair of the Pima County Republican Party, expressed her dissatisfaction with how federal budgets have been managed over the past four years. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Winn said infrastructure received “millions and millions of dollars” under the Biden administration, alleging that some of those funds were used to “encourage the facilitation of illegal immigration into this country.”

“That money went unaccounted for, it was infused into the budgets. And so now they’re finding that they have to cut programs because they don’t have that money anymore,” she continued. “We were the front door for the last four years of all kinds of atrocities happening in this country… we’re paying a price for it now.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Eric Robbins, chair of the Pima County Democratic Party, sharply criticized what he described as the Trump administration’s legacy of cruelty and misinformation on immigration policy.

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“Arizonans are exhausted by the Trump administration’s gaslighting, cruelty, and lies,” Robbins said. He accused Republican leaders—both nationally and within Arizona—of profiting from fear, citing what he called a surge in unjustified arrests by “masked, unidentifiable agents” targeting individuals without criminal records.

“These agents have reportedly detained mothers en route to buy food, leaving their children alone by the roadside,” he said. Robbins further claimed that such tactics have undermined local law enforcement efforts and funneled detainees into what he described as “for-profit detention centers.”

Labeling these practices as part of a “documented pattern of abuse,” Robbins cited allegations, including the harassment of nonprofit workers, increased privatization and militarization at the border, due process violations, and widespread family separations.

“This isn’t security—it’s systemic failure dressed as patriotism,” Robbins stated. “Trump is not a patriot. He’s a nationalist, and Americans need to recognize that distinction.”

On the other hand, Jesus Jerez, a member of the Santa Cruz County Republican Committee, echoed Winn’s concerns and claimed enforcement had been limited during the last four years.

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“The last four years, there was no enforcement activity,” Jerez told Fox News Digital. “[Agents were] told that you can’t arrest anybody, but you give them these papers, and you hold them until someone can take them to be processed and then released.”

Winn underscored Tucson’s importance in the national immigration flow.

“Everything that happens at the border in order to get into the innermost regions of the country. [Tucson is] a stopping point once you go into the country,” she said. “It erodes the quality of life here because people don’t have [financial] means, so crime gets increased, people steal… We are at the effect of whatever is happening at the border.”

When asked about border security changes under Trump, Winn aligned her view with that of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). 

“We’re not seeing as many illegal immigrants,” she said, although she acknowledged that drug smuggling remains an issue in the region.

“Even though human being smuggling has stopped, the drug smuggling has not. And there’s a huge network set up in Arizona. So drugs come over the border in whichever way,” Winn said.

Winn also outlined the challenges facing Pima County due to what she described as a mismanaged policy.

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“Pima County is experiencing high drug use, and not a lot of solutions, and we’re low on police because… they underfunded the police over the last three years. So we are at the effects of the bad policies from the last four years. “Although it’s getting better, it seems that it got worse, to [the] great detriment of the people of Pima County,” she added.

Dan Dellinges, a state committeeman for the Santa Cruz County Republican Party, noted an uptick in property theft along common travel routes.

“We’ve had an increase in general property theft along routes of travel [and] pass-throughs here. We also have a number of people who die crossing the desert here to the east, coming into the country illegally, and oftentimes those bodies are discovered by hunters or hikers or side-by-side drivers and then the county or the border patrol comes in and recovers those bodies,” he said.

Dellinges criticized what he described as a breakdown in cooperation between local and federal authorities.

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“Arizona state constitution recognizes supremacy with federal, United States Constitution. At this county it’s not recognized, there’s very little cooperation with the federal government,” he explained.

When asked to expand on this claim, Dellinges pointed to a fundamental disagreement he has with the county sheriff. 

In the context of immigration enforcement, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona, led by Sheriff David Hathaway, has shown reluctance to fully cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to a January report from KGUN9, Hathaway pulled his deputies out of a program where they worked alongside Border Patrol.

“The City of Nogales, Arizona is 95% Hispanic. The County of Santa Cruz is 80% Hispanic. I don’t want there to be fear or tension between the community and my Sheriff’s Office. We run the 911 dispatch center for the county, and most households are Hispanic here, so I don’t want them to fear that they’re inviting an immigration officer, a border patrol agent, into their house if they hear an intruder at the back door. I want them to not fear calling us,” he said at the time. 

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Hathaway has pointed to courts ruling that state and local agencies cannot be forced to enforce immigration law, labeling it a federal issue. He also believes his team does not have the specific training or funding necessary for immigration enforcement–instead urging his office to focus on local violent crimes. 

Jerez warned of the risks posed by letting in large numbers of unvetted migrants.

“We let in so many people: unknown people, unvetted people, and some very bad people. The people here know how many people came through… These people are desperate and they don’t know our rules. We’re catching up, slowly catching up,” he said. 

He also expressed concern about public complacency.