Thread: Arpaio stays silent on real ICE plan

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... s0302.html
Arpaio stays silent on real ICE plan
Richard Ruelas
Republic columnist
Mar. 2, 2007 12:00 AM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deal with federal immigration authorities will help curb immigration-related crime. It will lead to more apprehensions of fugitive illegal immigrants, break up smuggling rings and seize fraudulent documents. From a law enforcement perspective, it makes great sense.

Which is probably why Arpaio doesn't want to talk about it.

Instead, Arpaio is presenting a strong-sounding version that doesn't square with what the agreement actually says. advertisement




During a news conference this week to announce the agreement, Arpaio talked tough. He said his program was different from a similar Phoenix police program concentrating on illegal immigrants who are major criminal offenders.

Arpaio said his deputies would go after illegal immigrants no matter the offense.

"Ours is an operation where we want to go after illegals, not the crime first," he said. "It's a pure program. You go after them, and you lock them up."

The ICE program, called 287G, trains local officers in immigration law. They can then make immigration arrests and use the federal immigration database.

Arpaio said he would put 60 or so jail officers and 100 deputies through the program and most of the deputies would then be assigned to routine patrol.

"We want to stop illegals coming into this country and put them in jail," Arpaio said.

Which would be fine, except that is not what Arpaio agreed to with the federal government.

"That's not the language in the agreement," said Alonso Peña, the head of the local ICE office. Peña said Arpaio cannot put immigration-trained deputies on routine patrol.

Under the agreement, he said, they must be assigned to one of five units: fugitive apprehension, criminal investigation, gangs, drugs or something called the community action team.

"We have had discussions, very frank discussions, about it," Peña said. "He's assured us that he will hold to the agreement."

Peña said the agreement can be terminated and the power for deputies to enforce immigration law withdrawn, if terms are violated.

The agreement itself has been withheld from the public. Arpaio's office says it is not subject to Arizona's public records law and its release needs to be cleared by ICE.

Peña, however, did show me the portion of the document that outlined exactly what jobs the ICE-trained deputies must perform.

"It's very clear," Peña said. "It's black and white and, I don't think, very ambiguous."

Trained deputies have the power to check the status of anyone they run into. Conceivably, they could arrest illegal immigrants they happen to find on traffic stops and the like. But their agreed-upon assignments make that possibility rare rather than routine.

Arpaio sees the agreement completely differently. "I decide where my deputies are going to go," he said.

Arpaio said the list of tasks listed in the agreement were just "options."

However, as understood by ICE, the agreement reached with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is similar to those that being reached with Phoenix police and the state Department of Public Safety. They are designed to go after providers of fraudulent documents and smuggling operations, not run-of-the-mill immigrants.

It makes law enforcement sense but doesn't make good rhetoric. Which is probably why Arpaio is talking tough rather than honest.

Because among the "send them back" crowd, saying you're going after the worst criminal illegal immigrants somehow makes you soft.



Reach Ruelas at (602) 444-8473 or richard.ruelas@arizonarepublic.com.

They are designed to go after providers of fraudulent documents and smuggling operations, not run-of-the-mill immigrants

Now a run of the mill immirgrant in mine and most common sense Americans would be an immirgrant who is here legally,minding his/her own business and carrying on with life. I believe this writer meant a Criminal alien who hasn't murdered raped kidnapped etc "Yet" NOTE THE WORD YET IS BIG IN THIS STATEMENT!!!!!

The author's name is Richard Ruelas. Do you think he may have a dog in this hunt?

To be honest, in looking at what's presented in the article, I can't see the point that Ruelas is trying to make. It appears that the Sheriff would have broad latitude within such an arrangement, and none of the verbiage appears to be exclusive. Just because an officer in the program must be "assigned to" one of five units, does that mean that he would also be precluded from "routine patrol"? Does the Sheriff not still have control over what duties his deputies perform?