Napolitano, Arpaio and the Future of Enforcement

Napolitano, Arpaio and the Future of Enforcement

Homeland Security Today
By David Silverberg
Thursday, 08 October 2009

A battle over detention reforms and powers presages national debate.

One aspect of the debate over illegal immigration came into stark relief this week as, on the one hand, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton introduced new flexibility into the holding of illegal alien detainees and, on the other hand, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who bills himself as "America's toughest sheriff" and a foe of illegal aliens, bitterly complained that he was losing the flexibility to enforce the law as he sees fit and vowed to take counter action.

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Napolitano and Morton introduced seven new reforms on alien detention designed for "prioritizing risk, strengthening oversight and increasing efficiency in our immigration detention system,â€

Arpaio should be the head of DHS