Sheriff's remarks divisive?

Hispanic leader says so

BY SHEILA MCLAUGHLIN | SMCLAUGHLIN@ENQUIRER.COM
Sheriff Rick Jones has a habit of ticking people off with his views on immigration.

This weekend was no different.

After a recent trip to Cochise County, Ariz., Jones, who is on a national sheriffs committee on immigration issues, said he wanted the public to know exactly what he saw and what his friend Sheriff Larry Dever told him about the Mexican border there.

So, in YouTube-esque fashion, Jones posted a video on his Web site (www.butlersheriff.org/illegals/mex_border.htm).

"Don't believe all these people are coming for a better life," Jones said.

Drug dealers are paying undocumented immigrants to smuggle marijuana and cocaine over the mountains and across the border, he said.

"The illegals are humping this ... over the mountains and bringing it from Mexico into the United States. Once they get across the border in these cities, they can go less than 100 yards and blend into the community. You don't know where they are," Jones said.

Those comments didn't sit well with a group of Hispanic immigrant leaders gathered in Cincinnati through today to discuss solutions to immigration issues in the United States.

"What he does is what others are doing - basically blame the immigrant for the social and economic ills that this country is facing, especially the middle class," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, director of communications for the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities.

"Immigrants are not to blame for the ills, but instead they are being scapegoated."

Cabrera agrees with Jones that the federal government isn't acting fast enough to deal with immigration issues.

But he thinks Jones' outspoken approach is divisive.

"He misses the opportunity like a number of people are doing to be creative and to add a positive contribution to the debate," Cabrera said.

"I don't think expressing frustration and anger is going to do anything."

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