Thread: Sheriff Enforces Law, Controversy Ensues

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/blog-d ... p?id=14612

Sheriff Enforces Law, Controversy Ensues

by Mac Johnson
Posted May 05, 2006

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, has violated all the norms of decent, complacent, and corrupt society by brazenly arresting illegal aliens, as if they had committed some crime. Worse yet, he has actually publicly announced his intention to arrest immigration criminals, which detractors fear could have a chilling effect on aspiring border infiltrators. "It's important to send the message out to stay in Mexico and don't come roaming around here hoping you're going to get amnesty," commented Arpaio.

The popular Sheriff, best known for his cost-effective "tent-city" to house criminals in the desert outside Phoenix (as if they had committed some crime), has begun arresting illegal aliens under an Arizona law against human smuggling. Such a move makes perfect sense, since each alien has, at the very least, smuggled himself across the border. And as a placard at the May Day protest reminded us, "Illegal Aliens Are Humans Too." Thus, human smuggling charges seem merited, solely on humanitarian grounds.

Arpaio does not intend to play "catch and release" games either, but instead intends to punish the border infiltrators by confining them for an inconvenient period in his recently expanded tent-city jail, as if they had committed some crime. "We're going to arrest any illegal who violates this new law," Arpaio explained. "I'm not going to turn these people over to federal authorities so they can have a free ride back to Mexico. I'll give them a free ride into the county jail" -- as if they had committed some crime!

Inexplicably, Arpaio has made his commitment to a strange, xenophobic, patriarchical, and possibly homophobic concept called "law enforcement" even more affordable by using trained volunteers from his 3000-member reserve deputy "posse" to arrest the illegal aliens. Clearly, this violates the unwritten rule that immigration law enforcement must be a weighty burden on tax payers, so that they tire of it and accept open borders.

The Sheriff is, of course, being sued -- as if he had committed some crime. The Mexican government intends to join the lawsuits, in an effort to stop this outbreak of law enforcement within America.

Perhaps President Bush may finally agree to send troops to the border-to arrest Sheriff Arpaio.

The sheriff is being sued for enforcing the laws?? A law which or elected officials passed?? This is getting absurd!!!!!!!

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... i1-05.html

Fed-up public wants action from Congress

May. 5, 2006 12:00 AM

Put "Sheriff Joe Arpaio" and "illegal immigration" in the same sentence, and you could get kicked.

"Knee-jerk" hardly covers the response.

Add in the residual elation/backlash over immigrant marches and boycotts, and you get predictable responses that are bumper-sticker simple and Hatfield-McCoy intransigent.

Move beyond the comfort level of the same old arguments and things get more complicated.

With his unerring ability to gauge public opinion, Arpaio hit the people's sweet spot with his announcement Tuesday that he'll put his posse in heat's way and comb the desert for undocumented immigrants to arrest.

Arpaio is using an opinion by Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas that says a state law intended to crack down on smugglers can apply to those who are being smuggled. Thomas' opinion is being challenged in court. But for now, being smuggled is a felony, says the sheriff. He's gonna book 'em and hold 'em for trial.

It's no surprise that Arpaio has become the American idol of the hold-the-line crowd.

More important, he's also a hit with a lot of people who live in a shrinking middle ground.

People are fed up, justifiably so, with a problem that gets worse and worse while Congress demonstrates how petty, self-serving and ineffective a bunch of rich, well-educated politicians can be.

Meanwhile, advocates for immigrants' rights are criticizing Arpaio in predictable ways.

"This situation is getting ugly and out of control," Hispanic activist Alfredo Gutierrez told the Associated Press. "Every act like this contributes to angst and anger and desperation in our community."

Our community.

Yet Arpaio says he's gotten overwhelmingly positive support from the public.

His community.

Choose your partners for the knee-jerk boogie.

Or take a deep breath.

Arizona is getting ready for record-breaking heat and another record-breaking season of deaths along the border. The danger to migrants and the public goes beyond remote stretches of desert.

On Wednesday, a truck carrying 14 undocumented immigrants rolled over south of Tucson. Two people were taken to the hospital by helicopter and 10 went by ambulance.

Last month, hospital officials in Tucson warned of the strain on their facilities after another rollover accident that killed four undocumented immigrants and resulted in nine migrants being airlifted to southern Arizona's only Level 1 trauma center, University Medical Center in Tucson.

Phoenix is not a border town, but it's where undocumented immigrants are held hostage in stash houses before being packed off to destinations all over the country.

The costs to communities and institutions are exploding.

Is Arpaio wrong to say he's going to enforce a state law that was put in place because the federal government can't/won't enforce its own laws against crossing the border illegally?

You know the knee-jerk answer. In truth, it's a harder call. Especially considering that his posse may wind up saving lives in the desert this summer.

Are the champions of migrants wrong to make it sound like the Latino community is one and the same as the undocumented immigrant community?

You know the knee-jerk answer to that one, too. But a calmer examination makes that a harder call, too. Especially considering that the fringe racist elements in the anti-illegal-immigrant movement are desperately trying to turn this into a Brown-White battle.

What's not hard is this: We need reform of the immigration laws at the federal level.

It's Congress that deserves a good swift kick.

I applaude this man, but something tells me he will be forced to let all those illegal aliens go

Praise God for Sheriff Joe...

As far as Mexico joining lawsuits against him....Isn't it damn time WE had some lawsuits against Mexico?

MJ