Thread: A Collision Course for the Feds and Sheriff Joe

February 11, 2010, 9:45 AM ET.A Collision Course for the Feds and Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio?
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By Ashby Jones

A list of the most polarizing public figures in the country might include these names: Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, Antonin Scalia, Al Gore, and Ben Bernanke. We’d add Lady Gaga, Simon Cowell, Alex Rodriguez and that television chef who yells at everyone.

And we’d also have to throw in the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff Joe Arpaio. Seems every time this guy opens his mouth, he makes news — typically for his hard-line stance on immigration. Some see him as exactly what the country needs. To others, Arpaio is little more than a cruel and power-obsessed bully.

The latest: Arpaio recently said he planned to defy Washington’s attempts to roll back his staunch enforcement of federal immigration law. It’s a bold move, one that could, according to this WSJ article, put him on a collision course with the U.S. government.

Late last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest arm of the Department of Homeland Security, stripped Arpaio of the authority to use 100 of his deputies to enforce federal immigration in his jurisdiction, which includes Phoenix. The move was prompted by Arpaio’s aggressive immigration crackdowns.

But in an interview this week, Arpaio said he would ignore Washington’s effort to clip his powers and would train all of his 881 deputies to enforce federal immigration law on the streets.

Asked about Arpaio’s plans for reinstating street-level immigration enforcement, an ICE spokesman in Arizona said: “Sheriff Arpaio’s efforts to conduct immigration-enforcement actions do not derive from any ICE-delegated federal authority.â€

The WSJ article mentioned above is on our homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/article-4917--0-0.html