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    APPLAUSE AND PROTESTS GREET ARIZONA SHERIFF IN CALIFORNIA



    REGION: Protests, applause greet Arizona sheriff

    Joe Arpaio a lightning rod in immigration debate

    By EDWARD SIFUENTES - esifuentes@nctimes.com
    Posted: August 10, 2010 9:39 pm

    When controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio approached a group of protesters Tuesday morning in Rancho Bernardo, he was shouted down with chants of "Arpaio's got to go."

    The mostly Latino crowd of about 150 people was protesting Arpaio's policies on illegal immigration in Maricopa County, Ariz., where the sheriff uses his deputies to arrest illegal immigrants, tent prisons to house them and other criminals, and chain gangs to punish them.

    Arpaio, who has been dubbed "America's toughest sheriff," was in North County to speak at a luncheon held by the Conservative Order for Good Government, a group that says it hosts speakers to promote dialogue between residents and elected officials.

    Inside the Rancho Bernardo Country Club, where the luncheon was held, Arpaio, 78, received a standing ovation as he walked in.

    "I wish I could speak to those demonstrators out there," he told the crowd of over 200 at the luncheon. "Everywhere I go, they follow me around."

    To some, Arpaio has become a symbol of everything that is wrong with the nation's broken immigration system. To others, he represents the solution.

    "Joe Arpaio is doing the job no one else is doing," said Dom Allen of El Cajon, one of two demonstrators outside the event in support of the sheriff. "We need to clone Joe Arpaio by the thousands. We need more Border Patrol. We need more enforcement."

    Across the street, Nydia Ramirez of Escondido said Arpaio was not welcome.

    "The San Diego community will not welcome hate," she said. "We stand in celebration of human rights and the dignity of all human beings regardless of legal status, race or ethnicity."

    Arpaio's visit coincided with a vote in Congress to approve a bill to spend $600 million to pay for more unmanned surveillance drones and 1,500 more agents along the border with Mexico. The bill includes $176 million for 1,000 new border patrol agents, $89 million for another 500 customs and immigration personnel and $32 million to deploy aircraft to patrol the border.

    During his speech, Arpaio spoke of his own policies to address illegal immigration, which include arresting all illegal immigrants his deputies encounter in the course of their duties.

    Since early 2008, Arpaio has run immigration and crimes sweeps, where deputies and posse volunteers flood an area of a city ---- in some cases, heavily Latino areas ---- and arrest traffic violators and other offenders.

    At Tuesday's event, Arpaio said his officers do not use racial profiling, an allegation frequently lodged against him. He repeatedly has said people pulled over in the sweeps are approached because deputies had probable cause to believe they had committed crimes and that it was only afterward that deputies found many of them were illegal immigrants. This practice was a central component of a hotly debated state immigration law that was supposed to take effect last month, but was blocked by a federal judge.

    He also defended his jail policies, including housing inmates in tents in the desert, making inmates wear pink underwear and feeding them cheap food ---- which he said costs about 19 cents a meal.

    "I'm not a social worker," said Arpaio, dressed in a blue suit and sporting a tie clip shaped like a gun. "I'm a law enforcement guy."

    At the luncheon, the sheriff with a reputation for being the "toughest sheriff in America" often drew laughter and applause from the crowd.

    However, Arpaio declined to say whether San Diego County would benefit from his policies. He said he did not want to tell other sheriffs how to run their departments.

    John Raasch, one of the people who attended the luncheon, said he liked what he heard.

    "He's the only person I know that speaks for common sense," Raasch said. "There's a problem and there's a solution. Most people can't make that connection, and he does it."

    Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.



    NORTH COUNTY TIMES

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    Related Post

    SHERIFF ARPAIO TO SPEAK IN RANCHO BERNARDO, CA

    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-208832.html

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