Thread: Massachusetts Bay State native lays down the law in Arizona

Bay State native lays down the law in Arizona

The Lowell Sun (Massachusetts)
June 7, 2011 Tuesday

There's a new sheriff in town; but watch out. He's been around.

He is Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

That county is in Arizona, down by the Mexican border, and Babeu have been making quite a name for himself in the fight over drug smuggling, illegal immigration and border security, or the lack thereof.

What has it got to do with Massachusetts?

Well, Babeu, 42, considered to be a rising political figure and star in Arizona Republican politics, is from Massachusetts, a place where his family lived for generations, where he received his education and his early political training.

He is returning to Massachusetts next week for a fundraising event hosted by several Massachusetts sheriffs.

Babeu is a very strong voice for tougher border control in the battle against illegal immigration, drugs and human smuggling, and is a very sharp critic of President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on these issues.

The Massachusetts sheriffs hosting the fundraiser at the East Bay Grille in Plymouth on Thursday are Joseph D. McDonald of Plymouth County; Thomas M. Hodgson of Bristol County; and Frank Cousins of Essex County, along with former state Treasurer Joe Malone and Rep. Vinny deMacedo of Plymouth.

Babeu's "slam-bam" speech on illegal immigration and border security before the 2011 annual meeting of the National Rifle Association has captured a lot of attention on the Internet and elsewhere.

"The illegal-drug trade crossing the loose border is a $40 billion industry", Babeu said, "run by Mexican cartels that "boast better weapons and more sophisticated technology than we do."

Babeu said when Arizona law-enforcement officials asked the federal government for help, the Obama administration "did not send reinforcements. They didn't even send supplies." \

"Instead", he said, "they sent teams of lawyers to sue us for enforcing the law. This is how twisted the situation is. Our own government has become America's enemy."

Babeu, a North Adams native, has risen from local police officer to sheriff of a county the size of Connecticut, 70 miles from the Mexican border.

It is considered a major "pass-through" for illegal immigrants bringing drugs and their associated violence into the United States.

He is also considered to be a 2012 candidate for a new seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (the seat that Massachusetts lost, by the way) or even a possible candidate for the seat held by retiring Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Kyle.

Before heading west, Babeu served a term as a county commissioner in Berkshire County, ran unsuccessfully for the state senate, and worked for Malone at the Statehouse and later in his losing primary campaign for governor against Paul Cellucci in 1998.

It was during the Malone years that he met Eric Fehrnstrom, a former Boston Herald reporter who worked for Malone and who is now a senior adviser to Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.

"Eric is a mentor," Babeu said.

Babeu is a graduate of North Adams State College with a master's degree in public administration from American International College in Springfield.

He is a recently retired major in the Arizona National Guard, having transferred there from the National Guard in Massachusetts.

He served a tour of duty in Iraq as well as commander of Task Force Yuma, a direct support unit of the U.S. Border Patrol along the Arizona/Mexico border.

He moved to Arizona after visiting his retired parents who moved there and became a police officer in the town of Chandler.

In 2008, he ran for Sheriff of Pinal County and became the first Republican elected to the office.

Last January he was named "Sheriff of the Year" by the National Sheriff's Association.

Babeu, in an interview, said he found President Obama's recent speech in El Paso, Texas, where he joked about building an alligator filled moat along the border, "insulting."

He said, "To say the border fence is complete is an outright lie. The majority of the border has no fence, no fence at all."

He said the federal government has placed billboards in Pinal County that warn the public a bout the dangers of traveling in the area.

They read: "Visitors may encounter armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. Travel not recommended."

"Travel not recommended? What an absolute joke," Babeu said. While the government can bail out CEOs on Wall Street, it can do nothing about "foreign thugs running unchecked on our soil."

Well, Babeu is doing something.

And, coming from Massachusetts, as he does, he has shown that your average Arizonan concerned about illegal immigration is not just "another right wing yahoo", but a regular American who is deeply concerned about the future of this country.

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/En ... 70&start=3

Good article, thank you for posting it.

They read: "Visitors may encounter armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed. Travel not recommended

On the evening news the other night they had given WARNINGS to anyone coming across pot farms in areas of North Carolina