Arizona AG Coordinated With Far-Left 'Abolish ICE' and 'Defund Police' Group While Opposing Border Security Measure, Records Show

Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes (D.) privately coordinated with a far-left group that has called to abolish ICE and defund police as she opposed a border security measure backed by more than 60 percent of the state's voters, records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show.

A lobbyist representing Living United for Change in Arizona, better known as LUCHA, emailed Mayes's office on May 6, 2024, to warn that state Republicans intended to unveil the Secure the Border Act, a bill inspired by GOP lawmakers in Texas that requires immigration status verification for certain public benefits and allows state and local law enforcement to arrest immigrants suspected of entering Arizona illegally. "Lucha is asking if AG Mayes would oppose [the bill] and come out with a statement against these efforts, as this policy and policies like them are not a sincere effort to address the humanitarian crisis at the border," the lobbyist wrote in an email obtained via public records request and shared with the Free Beacon. "It is going to be tough to defeat this, but public pressure like this helps make it possible."

Three days later, after Republicans in the state legislature voted to advance the bill, Mayes applied that pressure, releasing a statement that called the bill "a political distraction that will sow seeds of bias and fear without fixing the issues it claims to address."

Mayes's office stayed in contact with LUCHA as the measure advanced through the legislative process, records show. In June 2024, LUCHA's then-political director, Chris Gilfillan, reached out to Mayes's communications director, Richie Taylor, to request a call on "how AG Mayes is thinking about" the Secure the Border Act, "especially from a prosecutorial perspective."

"I think there's a really strong narrative that she could seize, but also understand it could/would be inherently political," Gilfillan wrote. Taylor responded to say he was "happy to chat" and provided his phone number. Three months later, in September 2024, Gilfillan reached out to Taylor again to request that Mayes sign on to "a Democratic AG letter circulating" that criticized Texas's immigration policies, according to the records. Taylor said his team would be "on the lookout" before confirming shortly thereafter that Mayes "signed onto this letter."

The communications indicate that Mayes's office maintained a tight relationship with a far-left group that has called to abolish both ICE and Customs and Border Protection even as Mayes presented herself as a border security advocate.

In her statement opposing the Secure the Border Act, Mayes said she had "been extremely vocal about our federal government's blatant failure to secure Arizona's border" but had concerns about the bill's "unintended consequences." Two years later, Mayes is campaigning as "a partner to law enforcement" who "has locked up drug cartel members" and "seized more than 27 million deadly fentanyl pills off our streets."

LUCHA, by contrast, said "We must Abolish ICE & Abolish CBP" as early as 2018 and played a central role in the movement to defund police in Arizona. In June 2020, the group held a rally outside of the Phoenix City Council Chambers as the body voted on the city's annual budget. "Phoenix has one of the deadliest police forces in the country and their violence has been on full display during the past week of protesting," LUCHA wrote in a Facebook post. "The police budget should be going to programs and services that will create healthy communities. The police do not protect or serve us. We need to show up tomorrow to demand that city council defund police."

Arizona Republicans passed the Secure the Border Act as a legislatively referred statute, a type of measure that is sent to voters as a statewide ballot measure rather than to the governor for a signature or veto. It then became known as Proposition 314, which passed with roughly 62 percent of the vote in November 2024. LUCHA has led unsuccessful lawsuits challenging the law's constitutionality.

Neither Mayes's office nor LUCHA responded to requests for comment.

The news comes as Mayes is embroiled in a tight reelection campaign against Republican opponent Warren Petersen, the president of the Arizona Senate. She holds a 6-point lead over Petersen, though more than 30 percent of voters remain undecided, according to a recent Noble Predictive Insights poll. Mayes's campaign has called the contest "one of the closest races in the country."

Mayes, who won her 2022 campaign by just 280 votes, has sparked controversy for her more recent remarks on ICE. In January, she suggested that Arizonans could be permitted to shoot masked ICE agents under the state's Stand Your Ground law.

"It's kind of a recipe for disaster because you have these masked federal officers with very little identification, sometimes no identification, wearing plain clothes and masks," she said in an interview with 12News. "And we have a Stand Your Ground law that says that if you reasonably believe that your life is in danger and you're in your house or your car or on your property, that you can defend yourself with lethal force." Asked if she was "telling folks, 'You have license, if you are threatened, to shoot a peace officer,'" Mayes responded, "Well, no, but, again, if you're being attacked by someone who is not identified as a peace officer, how do you know?"

The Arizona Police Association condemned the "reckless comments."

"Words from elected officials matter. It only takes one unstable individual to interpret such commentary as permission or encouragement to use deadly force against police officers," the association said in a statement. "As Arizona's chief law enforcement officer, the Attorney General has a responsibility to de-escalate, not inflame. We find these remarks reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous to the safety of all law enforcement professionals in the state."

Two days later, Mayes released a videotaped statement attempting to clean up her comments. She blamed the controversy on "right-wing media" and expressed her "support and appreciation" for Arizona law enforcement.

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