Thread: Supervisors OK $1.6M to Arpaio for immigration enforcement

Supervisors OK $1.6M to Arpaio for immigration enforcement

by Yvonne Wingett - Sept. 1, 2010 10:48 AM
The Arizona Republic

Sheriff Joe Arpaio will get his $1.6 million in state money for his immigration-enforcement funds, after all.

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday voted to accept the funding, two weeks after they pulled the matter from the agenda amid concerns over financial accountability within Arpaio's office.

The money funds 15 staff positions.

The five-member board approved the funding on a 4-1 vote.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was pleased with the board's decision.

"I appreciate them approving this money, every penny counts," he told The Republic. "We're going to use this to continue our fight on illegal-immigration programs. We should put our differences aside and do what's right for the people of Maricopa County."

Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was the holdout.

Wilcox fundamentally disagrees with the sheriff's enforcement of illegal immigration and always votes "nay" on funding and donations that appear before the board.

Recently, Supervisor Don Stapley has also expressed concerns with the sheriff's immigration enforcement tactics.

A handful of sheriff's officials attended the meeting. Sean Pearce of the Deputy Law Enforcement Association asked the board to accept the funds, saying the public wants something done about illegal immigration.

"Enough with the politics," he said. "Stop playing games when innocent lives are at stake. Our citizens are tired of the violence, the maiming and the numerous deaths, not to mention the financial burden caused by the lack of enforcement. I am not here to defend the Sheriffs office and its fiscal responsibilities, but to remind you that the state legislature ... Holds sole authority to audit those funds and how they're spent - not the Board of Supervisors."

Last year, supervisors initially blocked the funding from going to Arpaio's office. That decision came one month after the Justice Department announced that the Sheriff's Office was the subject of a civil-rights investigation into allegations that deputies discriminate.

One month later the Supervisors changed their minds and approved the funding with a 3-1 vote.

In 2008, former Gov. Janet Napolitano stripped Arpaio of the $1.6 million and redirected it to a fugitive task force. Republican legislative leadership gave the money back to Arpaio in a budget package in early 2009.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/ ... 01-ON.html

WAY TO GO JOE GOOD WORK . SAVE OUR COUNTRY YOU & JAN BREWER & ALIPAC

Good news.