Sheriff's deputies are back in Mesa

[jimpasz]

Sheriff's deputies are back in Mesa
Unit arrests 9 suspected illegal immigrants
JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 30, 2007 12:00 AM

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Illegal Immigration Interdiction Unit returned to Mesa on Thursday, a little more than two weeks after the group's last roundup elicited a strong response from the Mesa Police Department.

But after sheriff's deputies arrested nine people near Stapley Drive and Broadway Road in Mesa on Thursday morning on suspicion of being in the country illegally, Mesa police officials refused to comment.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, on the other hand, had plenty to say about Police Chief George Gascón, who has questioned Arpaio's tactics to enforce illegal-immigration laws in the past. advertisement




"I did it on this occasion because he criticized me the first time we went in there on November 17," Arpaio said of Gascón. "I went back to let him know that he's not going to scare me away over talking to the media."

Nevertheless, Arpaio insisted the crackdown was not personal, but rather part of his ongoing effort to enforce immigration laws.

The nine men were stopped for traffic violations as the federally trained deputies performed a saturation patrol in the area, which Arpaio said is a known haven for illegal immigrants. When the deputies, who are among 160 who have received federal immigration training, began questioning the men, the suspects couldn't provide information to prove they were in the country legally, said Chief Brian Sands, who oversees the unit.

Sands said deputies were not simply stopping people because of the color of their skin, and compared the operation with crackdowns deputies do in outlying areas where human smuggling is known to occur.

Mesa City Councilman Mike Whalen said he called Arpaio after the last sweep in Mesa and the ensuing public battle between the sheriff and Gascón in the hopes of getting the two departments to work together more effectively.

After speaking with Arpaio and understanding that deputies were not conducting undercover operations without notifying Mesa police, Whalen said he alerted Arpaio to the Broadway corridor, where many day laborers gather.

"They're not all good people down there. There's some bad people along with the good, and if Joe's down there enforcing criminal-law violations, I'm all for it," said Whalen, a former assistant chief of police. "He's welcome in our city."

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... p1130.html

[nntrixie]

Councilman Whalen sounds like a good man - a man who is interested in protecting his city and his country.