Mayor Kate Gallego discusses ICE, the light rail expansion, and more

On February 10th, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego wrote a letter to the city manager that proposed the council have 45 days to develop a transparency initiative. The letter comes after increased ICE activity raises alarm in the community.

The initiative would create a framework that documents information on federal immigration enforcement, ensure multilingual communication, and provides additional information.

In addition to talks of ICE, the City Council recently voted to end the Capitol light rail extension that would have connected Downtown Phoenix to the state Capitol.

Gallego joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the city’s plans for ICE, the ongoing light rail expansion, and a new non-stop flight to Taiwan.

“We’re deeply concerned about what we’re seeing from federal law enforcement,” said Gallego. “We’re concerned they don’t have sufficient training and that there are very real civil rights abuses.”

Following federal raids at Zipps Sports Grill, the Phoenix mayor became concerned about how federal officers were operating.

She says the city has never had to document incidents such as fire department calls, but following increased federal operations, there’s been an increase.

“Our focus is on crime in our community. We want to make sure you and your family are as safe as possible. We are not in charge of things like immigration; that is the federal government’s responsibility,” said Gallego.

Gallego also spoke about changes to the original light rail extension, saying when it came down to it, the changes prioritize areas with higher ridership.

The changes to the extension plan aren’t removing any of the original plans; instead, they prioritize areas like Indian School.

“The Indian school extension gives us the ability to go right into the heart of Indian school, and I’m really excited about the residents and the benefits,” said Gallego.

She also discussed Phoenix’s first non-stop flight to Taipei, Taiwan.

“I have been really frustrated that Phoenix is the largest city without non-stop services to anywhere in Asia, and it’s something I’ve been working on for so long,” said Gallego.

Phoenix now has two aircraft carriers serving non-stop flights to Taiwan. The mayor hopes the flight will assist Arizona in gaining global attention and create more jobs.