TUCSON, Ariz. — The Pima County Board of Supervisors rejected operation Stonegarden grant money in a 3-2 vote today. The Operation Stonegarden Federal Grant money goes towards things like overtime, mileage, and equipment used for immigration enforcement. Supervisors Elias, Valadez and Bronson all voted to reject the funding.
The people who rallied against this grant say it's been a two-year fight to get the Sheriff's Department out of immigration enforcement. The sheriff says turning down the grant makes Pima County less safe.
“Disappointment,” said Sheriff Napier after the vote. “I think we allowed politics to get in the way of public safety.”
Napier says his department has used the grant money for many years.
“For this to be defeated today I think it makes Pima County less safe and it makes migrants less safe. This is bad public policy. We have accepted this grant for more than a decade and nothing about it has changed.”
Chairman Richard Elias says after a request to use portions of the grant for humanitarian aid was denied, the combination of budget concerns and public sentiment was too much to go forward.
“I think the technical end of it speaks to how ineffective the grant is. So a bad combination of things. And the storm created surrounding it is not good for the community,” said Elias.
Napier says he'll be asking the supervisors to come up with some of the funding he lost today.
The people's defense initiative has been fighting the grant for two years. The organizer says they'll continue to fight any attempts to accept the grant in the future.
