Thread: AZ-Sheriff: Dozens detained at East Valley lawn company

Sheriff: Dozens detained at East Valley lawn company


Reported by: Deborah Stocks
Email: dstocks@abc15.com
Last Update: 3:51 pm

MCSO picks up landscape workers in east Valley Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies rounded up nearly three-dozen employees of an East Valley landscaping company Wednesday morning.

According to a Sheriff's Office spokesman, search warrants were served on several locations of Artistic Land Management.

The warrants were related to an investigation into potential violations of the Arizona State employer sanctions statute.

Among the people detained, Sheriff's deputies are reportedly holding suspects for criminal fraud violations, arrest warrants, and suspects believed to be in the country illegally.

Witnesses said dozens of workers were lined up, handcuffed with zip-ties, and then loaded onto a bus at a Mesa shop near Dobson and Main Street.

Rolando Garza, a driver for the company, said he arrived at work at 5 a.m. and was handcuffed even though he's a U.S. citizen.

Garza said he showed deputies his driver's license and was eventually released about two hours later.

The spokesman said the Sheriff will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon with County Attorney Andrew Thomas to talk about the ongoing investigation.



http://www.abc15.com/news/local/story.a ... cea55457c6

So THIS must be the "raid" one of the tenants here told my husband about

Go get 'em Joe & Co!!!!

Well, Mr. Garza, and I assume he is from South or Latin America, get a grip and see what your fellow Latinos have done to you as an American citizen: accused because you apprarently are Hispanic. I have absolutely no idea why any legal Hispanic would support the illegals. I know quite a few Latinos, who are American citizens who are livid about the possible amnesty.

Sheriff's deputies raid Mesa landscaping business
1117 commentsby Jackee Coe and JJ Hensley - Aug. 27, 2008 12:22 PM
The Arizona Republic
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies raided a Mesa landscaping company early Wednesday, arresting 29 people suspected of being in the country illegally.

Of the arrested, 20 were suspected of identity theft for using false social security numbers and other documents, and the other nine were detained for possible immigration violations said Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The raid at the offices of Artistic Land Management, on Main Street just west of Dobson Road, began about 4:30 a.m., according to one worker who was handcuffed but later released after producing documentation that he was in the country legally. Deputies also searched a corporate office in southeast Mesa.
“What Sheriff Joe is doing is an abuse of power,â€

Cibola Mobile Home Park is next to the landscaping company. Steve Wahl, who manages the park, estimated that 30 percent of the tenants in the park work for Artistic Land Management.


Oopsie, uh-oh Steve. And what percentage of your tenant base did you just lose?

[b]“It hurts everybody. I don't like illegal immigration but there are better ways to deal with the issue,â€