Ariz. Sheriff Continues Sweeps After Ruling

(AP)  Lost in the hoopla over Arizona's immigration law is the fact that state and local authorities for years have been doing their own aggressive crackdowns in the busiest illegal gateway into the country.

Nowhere in the U.S. is local enforcement more present than in metropolitan Phoenix, where Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio routinely carries out sweeps, some in Hispanic neighborhoods, to arrest illegal immigrants. The tactics have made him the undisputed poster boy for local immigration enforcement and the anger that so many authorities feel about the issue.

"It's my job," said Arpaio, standing beside a sheriff's truck that has a number for an immigration hot line written on its side. "I have two state (immigration) laws that I am enforcing. It's not federal, it's state."

A ruling Wednesday by a federal judge put on hold parts of the new law that would have required officers to dig deeper into the fight against illegal immigration. Arizona says it was forced to act because the federal government isn't doing its job to fight immigration.

The issue led to , including one directed at Arpaio in Phoenix in which protesters beat on the metal door of a jail and chanted, "Sheriff Joe, we are here. We will not live in fear."

Meanwhile, Governor Jan Brewer's lawyers went to court to overturn the judge's ruling so they can fight back against what the Republican calls an "invasion" of illegal immigrants.

Ever since the main flow of illegal immigrants into the country shifted to Arizona a decade ago, state politicians and local police have been feeling pressure to confront the state's border woes.

In addition to Arpaio's crackdowns, other efforts include a steady stream of busts by the state and local police of stash houses where smugglers hide illegal immigrants. The state attorney general has taken a money-wiring company to civil court on allegations that smugglers used their service to move money to Mexico. And a county south of Phoenix has its sheriff's deputies patrol dangerous smuggling corridors.

The Arizona Legislature has enacted a series of tough-on-immigration measures in recent years that culminated with the law signed by Brewer in April, catapulting the Republican to the national political stage.

But the king of local immigration enforcement is still Arpaio.

Arpaio, a 78-year-old ex-federal drug agent who fashions himself as a modern-day John Wayne, launched his latest sweep Thursday afternoon, sending about 200 sheriff's deputies and trained volunteers out across metro Phoenix to look for traffic violators who may be here illegally.

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Deputy Bob Dalton and volunteer Heath Kowacz spotted a driver with a cracked windshield in a poor Phoenix neighborhood near a busy freeway. Dalton triggered the red and blue police lights and pulled over 28-year-old Alfredo Salas, who was born in Mexico but has lived in Phoenix with a resident alien card since 1993.

Dalton gave him a warning after Salas produced his license and registration and told him to get the windshield fixed.

Salas, a married father of two who installs granite, told The Associated Press that he was treated well but he wondered whether he was pulled over because his truck is a Ford Lobo.

"It's a Mexican truck so I don't know if they saw that and said, 'I wonder if he has papers or not,'" Salas said. "If that's the case, it kind of gets me upset."

Sixty percent of the nearly 1,000 people arrested in the sweeps since early 2008 have been illegal immigrants. Thursday's dragnet led to four arrests, but it wasn't clear if any of them were illegal immigrants.

Critics say deputies racially profile Hispanics. Arpaio says deputies approach people only when they have probable cause.

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio and some other folks there decided they can make a name for themselves in terms of the intensity of the efforts they're using," said Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the pro-immigrant Immigration Policy Center. "There's no way to deny that. There are a lot of people getting caught up in these efforts."

The Justice Department launched an investigation of his office nearly 17 months ago over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures. Although the department has declined to detail its investigation, Arpaio believes it centers on his sweeps.

Arpaio feels no reservations about continuing to push the sweeps, even after the federal government stripped his power to let 100 deputies make federal immigration arrests.

Unable to make arrests under a federal statute, the sheriff instead relied on a nearly 5-year-old state law that prohibits immigrant smuggling. He has also raided 37 businesses in enforcing a state law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

"I'm not going to brag," Arpaio said. "Just look at the record. I'm doing what I feel is right for the people of Maricopa County."


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Ariz. Gov. Seeks Dismissal of Immigration Suit
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Is Political Rhetoric Hurting Ariz. Tourism?

[ajvw]

round em up; move em out...you go Joe

[underdogus2007]

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a Neo-Nazi sympathizer and guest speaker for the movement....................

[underdogus2007]

You're known by the company you keep and neo-Nazi's are not the type of company the top law enforcement official needs to be seen supporting. This just demonstrates his lack of judgement, which seems to permeate just about everything he does.

Arpaio should resign.

[underdogus2007]

You're known by the company you keep and neo-Nazi's are not the type of company the top law enforcement official needs to be seen supporting. This just demonstrates his lack of judgement, which seems to permeate just about everything he does.

Arpaio should resign.

[PVperson2]

I see Arpaio's actions as proof that the law would be abused, Arpaio has his deputies practice profiling without it being legal, what would he be capable of if it was legalized by that damn law? An Arizona Gestapo?

[meshine]

The federal government must solve this immigration issue or America is toast. The federal government can no longer sit back and do nothing while the country is being overrun by illegal immigrants. We are going to get more and more states enacting their own immigration laws because the federal government refuses to do their job. Immigration is a hot political issue for the congress so they are at a stalemate and cannot act. Meanwhile, the citizens of this country remain divided for or against immigration mainly by ethnicity.

[tsigili]

Ya know, the thing is.....he is a law enforcement official. Illegal immigration is illegal....pure and simple, and law enforcement is supposed to deal with crime. That is what they are supposed to do, and it is good to see someone do their JOB!

Thanks, Sheriff, for doing what is right!

[shierp]

It sounds as if sherriff Arpaio is doing his job. He is enforcing the law. I was impressed that the guy with the cracked windshield was given a warning instead of a ticket. In most places nowadays, the cities are looking for extra funding. Here we have motor cycle cops who hide all over the place. They can easily write tickets amounting to more than a month of salary and the cost of maintaining their motorcycle in less than one day. All tickets except parking around here are over $100 bucks. No insurance can cost $1000. Talk about economic discrimination.

I don't know why everyone is so upset if the guy is getting things done. People say that other counties arrests are down but that might just mean that in Maricopa county they are enforcing the laws. As far as discrimination against hispanics in a place where most people are hispanic including many of the law enforcement people. It just sounds like folks trying to stir up problems. Kind of like saying that looking for black drug dealers in Harlem is profiling.

[askagain]

Where I live, there are speeding cameras setup all over the place. You receive a ticket in the mail and can see the violation on the internet. The owner of the car receives the ticket regardless of who is driving the car. I got a ticket when my son who lives in California used my car while visitibg us. Talk about a lucrative way for my state to raise money.

[dadirt]

He is doing his job, he is doing nothing illegal, he is protecting the people he serves. That is more than the federal government is doing because the is an election coming up and the need all ignorant voters they can get to keep the liberals in office. Hear they want to give the citizenship without going for a vote!

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DO YOUR JOB! Blaming others is the democratic way, that is not what the US was founded on!

[_One_American____]

Sheriff Joe Arpaio - doing the job that the Federal Government refuses to do.

America needs more no-nonsense stand-up people like Joe Arpaio.