Arpaio, Mesa police square off over immigrant arrests
JJ Hensley
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 15, 2007 05:55 PM

After conducting sweeps throughout the Valley, Sheriff Joe Arpaio brought his Illegal Immigration Interdiction Unit to Mesa on Thursday morning and netted nine men suspected of being in the country illegally, including two on suspicion of drug possession.

Six Sheriff's deputies pulled over the men for a series of traffic violations near Stapley Drive and Main Street, and in the course of the investigation learned that the men were in the country illegally. The deputies also found drugs on two men and discovered an outstanding warrant for another, Arpaio said.

Mesa police questioned the use of 100 officers for immigration enforcement after Arpaio announced this week that he would suspend operations in satellite facilities, including Mesa, because his department had already exceeded its overtime budget by more than $1 million just three months into the fiscal year.

"That's leaving us a tremendous cost of having to get prisoners downtown," said Detective Chris Arvayo, a Mesa Police Department spokesman. "When you look at that fact that he has to close all of these holding facilities down, yet he can use 100 deputies to put on this task force and go out to look for illegal immigrants, it seems to me that the eggs aren't going into the basket they need to."

Arpaio said he operated the suburban facilities as a favor to local police departments.

He has made a habit of doing the public roundups in recent months in other Valley communities, but has so far steered clear of Mesa where Police Chief George Gascón has previously said that Hispanics, whether they're in the country legally or illegally, commit crimes at a rate proportionate with their presence in the population.

But on Thursday, Arpaio's deputies headed east.

"We're cracking down on this problem all over the Valley," Arpaio said. "Now we're hitting in Mesa. Evidently the chief of police doesn't make this a priority."

Mesa police were caught off guard by the arrests Thursday.

"It is standard policy between law enforcement agencies that if you're going to conduct an operation in another jurisdiction, you notify the other agency," Arvayo said. "It fosters a good relationship and it prevents officer safety issues. If we don't know that they there, and all of a sudden we get a call for shots fired, there is a potential for that to lead into hazardous situation."

Two of the men arrested were held on suspicion of felony drug possession, but Arpaio said the fact that the other seven men weren't committing another crime didn't diminish the importance of their arrests.

"When people say, 'They don't commit any crimes,' why is it that 22 percent of our inmates are illegal aliens?" Arpaio said. "We got two with drugs, they're illegal. We go after the illegal (immigrants) because they violate the law."

But to Mesa Police, Arpaio's motives are questionable.

"Protecting the community and serving the public in our capacity, it's not a political game," Arvayo said. "Protecting the public stands for more than political games and political gain. We're on the right track. We use the numbers we use to reduce (violent) crimes and keep our community safe. That doesn't mean you go out and become an immigration-enforcement officer."

Arpaio said it won't be the last time his immigration unit visits the East Valley.

"My deputies have and will continue to enforce state and federal immigration laws across this entire county, including the city of Phoenix, and now Mesa," Arpaio said in a statement. "I will not be deterred by a group who announced two weeks ago that they want to recall me because I am enforcing the illegal immigration laws."

The news of deputies arresting nine men comes on the same day that Mesa police announced the arrest of 85 gang members as the result of a three-week crackdown on violent crimes, including homicide, robbery, sexual assault, arson, theft, burglary, arson and auto theft.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon Gascón said nine of the 85 arrested were in the country illegally.
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