Thread: 'Sheriff Joe' captivates Kendall County GOP

'Sheriff Joe' captivates Kendall County GOP
Protesters no match for enthusiastic reception from Republican faithful

ledgersentinel.com
by Tony Scott
9/1/2011

The fervor of protesters outside of the annual Kendall County Republican Party picnic fundraiser Saturday afternoon at the county fairgrounds in Yorkville seemed to be outmatched by the enthusiasm of those attending the picnic to see its main attraction: Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

County GOP Chairman Ken Toftoy, who also serves as the county's elected coroner, invited Arpaio to speak at the picnic.

Arpaio is known for his hard-line views on illegal immigration, and has been criticized for his treatment of prisoners at Tent City, one of the Maricopa County Jail's facilities in which inmates sleep in tents outside.

Prior to the picnic, a group of approximately 70 protesters, with signs and banners, confronted Arpaio and chanted various slogans including "Education, not deportation."

Arpaio briefly spoke with the protesters before talking with a small group of supporters outside of the fairgrounds, and was then driven by golf cart up the drive that led to the fairgrounds.

While in the fairgrounds, Arpaio met with the media and spoke to supporters, stopping frequently to take photos with people and talk to them. At one point, he asked whether there would be more television crews at the event - the Spanish language TV station Univision was present, as was a CBS affiliate from Chicago.

Arpaio acknowledged that his inmates stay in tents that recently reached a temperature of approximately 140 degrees on a summer day in Phoenix.

A reporter asked him about the danger of the temperatures in the tent, noting that several hundred people died in a heatwave in Chicago years ago.

"What's wrong with that?" he said. "Nobody dies in a tent. I put the tents up Aug. 3, 1993, and if they're so bad, if you're worried about people dying, why did four presidential candidates visit me in the tents? Running for president of the United States of America. So, if it's that bad, what, do you think they're stupid?"

Arpaio said he didn't "think it's unhealthy. I've had over half a million come through there and nobody died."

He said the story of him serving green bologna to his inmates was partly true. He said a company donated bologna to him that had been dyed green for St. Patrick's Day.

"I don't serve rotten food," he said.

Arpaio said that when he arrests illegal immigrants who are working in local businesses, there is only so much he can do to punish the business owners that hire the illegal immigrants.

"We try to get enough evidence, but it's only a little civil violation," he said. "It's very difficult to prove that they knowingly (hired them)."



Pink boxer shorts and
bologna sandwiches

Arpaio spoke to the enthusiastic crowd of approximately 600 people, which responded with thunderous applause at several points during his speech.

During his speech, he told of his connections to Illinois - he and his wife married in Evanston, he was a drug enforcement officer on the south side of Chicago, and his son Rocco was born in Chicago.

He also spoke of his reputation, and his treatment of his inmates and illegal immigrants.

Arpaio complimented President Barack Obama for recently bringing up the topic of immigration, because he said that way at least people are talking about it.

"Nobody else is talking about it," he said. "All these politicians in Washington, they don't wanna talk about it. So this is great, the president talking about it. Now everybody's talking about it. That's good - controversy. Maybe someone will do something about it."

Arpaio talked about his Tent City facility, which opened in 1993 shortly after he was first elected. He said those in Tent City are inmates that have been convicted of a crime, not those awaiting trial.

He denied that his sheriff's office racially profiles and targets the Hispanic population of Maricopa County. He said his office recently won a federal lawsuit that accused him of such tactics.

"We don't racially profile," he said. "We don't go locking people up because they are (a minority)."

Arpaio said he makes his inmates wear pink boxers because his office was having problems with those leaving his jail stealing multiple pairs of white boxers. He now sells signed versions of the pink boxer shorts.

"The unofficial reason is, they hate pink," he said. "Why give them a color they like? So that's why it's pink."

He said he also took away the inmates' cigarettes, coffee and salt ("I should get the Heart Association award," he quipped), as well as most movies. He said he allows them to watch a Donald Duck movie, "Lassie Come Home" and "Old Yeller."

"Why would we show inmates murders and everything else?" he said. "I took away their R-rated movies."

Arpaio said he feeds his inmates bologna or peanut butter sandwiches, with an orange. He said his meals cost 50 cents a day, but will start charging inmates $1 a day starting next month for meals.

"The money that we charge will be put in our inmate fund, and we'll use that fund to have some nice programs in the jail that nobody will talk about," he said, including education and religious programs.

Arpaio said the protesters against him "have the right to speak their opinion," and that those in the Republican Party who decided not to attend also have that right.

"You have an obligation to voice your opinion, and I don't blame anybody for (criticisms), because sometimes I give the wrong perception," he said.

Arpaio lamented the various lawsuits and the investigation of his office by the U.S. Department of Justice over accusations of racial profiling. But he said law enforcement officials are afraid of being aggressive at the risk of being sued.

"What is it around this country? Everybody's afraid of doing anything," he said. "Everybody's worried about being sued. I'm not worried about it; I get sued once in a while."

Arpaio said President Obama should thank him when he raids businesses, because it opens up jobs for U.S. citizens.

He bristled at the theory that American citizens won't do the agriculture and construction labor jobs that undocumented workers often take for low pay.

"This is the greatest country in the world, and you're trying to tell me you can't hire people to do this work?" he said. "Pay them more money, but don't say we need (illegal immigrant labor) because nobody in the United States will do the jobs. Right now, people will work anywhere to put food on the table, whether it's washing cars or working at a hotel, they're gonna do it, especially now with the unemployment (rate). So we don't need the illegal aliens to fill up the work place."



GOP chair: 'I can die now'

Amy Cesich, the director of marketing and media relations for the Kendall County Democratic Party, attended the protest outside of the GOP picnic event Saturday. She said it was passionate, but peaceful.

"It wasn't too ugly, from what I saw," she said.

The crowd included a group of students from Northern Illinois University, union members and Democratic Party officials, she said.

"They were mostly preaching education, not deportation," she said. "Getting that message across that, it's not just about running them out. He goes, 'We need to go in and take these illegals out of the workplace.' Well, what are you doing with the people that are hiring them? Why are we always focused on getting them out and not doing something about the places that hire them?"

Cesich said the treatment of the inmates in Tent City is "a human rights issue for me."

Toftoy said Monday that the picnic was a success in his eyes.

"I think it was awesome," he said. "I've been involved in the party since 1982, and I think it's one of the largest picnics that we've ever had. I didn't hear anybody complain about his speech, I didn't hear anybody complain about the food. I've heard compliments all day about how they enjoyed it."

Toftoy added, "I got to spend a weekend with Sheriff Joe, so I can die now. It's something I'll never forget."

http://ledgersentinel.com/article.asp?a=9844

Why educate when they are not allowed to work here anyway?