Signs of region’s emerging power found in Arizona
New residents from inside and outside U.S. borders bring different priorities for government — challenging long-standing Republican dominance

By J. Patrick Coolican
Sun, Aug 17, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Phoenix — Beatriz Escalante, a hotel sales manager, paints a grim picture of life in Hispanic communities here, hunkered down and racked with fear.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the long-serving lawman of Phoenix’s Maricopa County, has instituted aggressive tactics aimed at sweeping up illegal immigrants. Arpaio’s teams round up large groups of Hispanics suspected of being in the country illegally. The sweeps inevitably also net legal residents, who are released once it’s determined they belong here.

The action is popular with many cultural conservatives in a state with a strong tradition of Republicanism. As for many Hispanics: “He’s scaring the population,â€