The running legal and political fight between the Pinal County Board of Supervisors and Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller over immigration enforcement has become a high-stakes test of who controls county power in Arizona when local officials clash over cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The dispute centers on Miller’s 287(g) agreement with ICE, signed in 2025, that allows trained personnel in his office to carry out certain immigration-enforcement functions under federal supervision. 

The Board of Supervisors and Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple argue Miller lacked the authority to enter the agreement without board approval. County officials declared the pact void in January and later sued, arguing the county attorney exceeded his legal powers and attempted to commit county resources without authorization. A Pinal County judge then temporarily blocked implementation of the agreement on Feb. 10 while the case moved forward. 

Miller, however, has refused to retreat. In a motion to dismiss filed March 27 in Maricopa County Superior Court, he argued the lawsuit “is without merit and should be dismissed.” His filing contends that Arizona law bars local officials from restricting enforcement of federal immigration law, that the board’s authority over his office is limited to fiscal oversight, and that the plaintiffs failed to show his office exceeded its approved budget in carrying out the ICE agreement. Miller has cast the partnership as a tool to combat human trafficking, drug trafficking, and organized criminal activity. 

The case has already produced one procedural victory for Miller. As the Arizona Globe reported on Feb. 20, 2026, in “Pinal’s Miller Wins Round 1 in County’s ICE Ban,” a judge granted his request to transfer the case out of Pinal County and into Maricopa County, calling it “the most convenient and least objectionable” venue. 

What began as a dispute over one immigration agreement has widened into a broader confrontation over institutional authority, county spending, and public safety. With Miller seeking dismissal and county leaders insisting he acted unlawfully, the fight now stands as one of Arizona’s clearest local flashpoints over how aggressively county officials can align themselves with federal immigration enforcement