Earlier this year, Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan complained that he felt “handcuffed” by the federal court order in the Melendres civil rights case, which prohibits sheriff’s deputies from enforcing federal immigration law.
But internal sheriff’s office emails recently obtained by Phoenix New Times via a public records request reveal that in April, Sheridan was exploring the possibility of holding immigration detainees on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In an April 9 email to Sheridan from Christopher McGregor, a deputy director in Phoenix’s ICE office, McGregor wrote that he was “following up” on a previous conversation they had about “possibly using one of your facilities to house ICE detainees.” He also told Sheridan that ICE is “looking to secure 1,000 beds and would like to understand the potential for expansion if needed.”…