Thread: Sheriff Joe Cuts Ties With Anti-Immigration Group

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10 ... ion-group/

Sheriff Joe Cuts Ties With Anti-Immigration Group
Published October 30, 2010
Associated Press

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he is cutting ties with an anti-immigration organization after the group reportedly piggybacked on his name to make the claim that grassroots volunteers will be at the polls Tuesday stopping illegal immigrants from trying to vote, MyFoxPhoenix reported Friday.

An email sent out by anti-immigration group Ban Amnesty Now had Arpaio’s signature and said that when thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to vote this Election Day, an army of volunteers will be there to stop them

Arpaio denies writing the email and has asked the Tempe, Ariz.-based organization to disassociate itself from him.

Arpaio was once co-chairman on Ban Amnesty Now, but he says he never authorized the email to be sent out under his name.

Laura Brown from the Arizona Advocacy Network says the email is another effort to intimidate Hispanics from heading to the polls.

"We thought ‘Oh my goodness, not again’ -- Arizona has such a long history of voter suppression and dirty tricks," she says. "We're very concerned that they're going to go to the polls and harass voters and try to intimidate them."

The email's claim that thousands of illegal immigrants will head to the polls is just ridiculous, Brown says

"This wild idea that undocumented people are crossing the desert so they can decide who is going to be our next corporation commissioner… anybody who uses their common sense knows that ridiculous and study after study has shown that voter fraud is extremely rare."

Brown did attest, however, to witnessing acts of voter intimidation.

"We seen people show up at the polls with their firearms exposed and asking people where they live and if they have ID," she says.

The Arizona Advocacy Network has asked the Department of Justice to send monitors to the polls. They're also organizing a group of volunteers that will stand out at polling places to make sure voters aren't harassed.

"GO, JOE!"


287(g) and Secure Communities programs allow true criminals to prosper while elder-caregivers, maids, gardeners and their families live in fear.
Law enforcement professionals report that good relations between police and community residents are essential to catching criminals and minimizing crime. But when residents are fearful of any contact with law enforcement, community policing falls apart, and crime goes up. Career criminals know this and they are delighted to be able to count on neighbors being too afraid of the police to contact the authorities when they suspect criminal activity.

The Department of Homeland Security's 287(g) and Secure Communities programs train and deploy local law enforcement to act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, allowing them to detain people that cannot prove they have proper documentation to be in the country. Arizona has now created a state law (SB 1070) that will require all law enforcement officers to act as ICE agents and to question anyone if they have "reasonable suspicion" that person does not have proper papers. Another law (HB 200 requires all government employees to report any person they come into contact with that they suspect may not have proper papers.

The result is a climate of fear in which parents are no longer walking their children to school, families are afraid to attend church or go to the doctor or hospital, and businesses that support immigrant communities are closing.

We ask the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Napolitano and the Obama Administration to stop place a moratorium the flawed 287(g) agreements and Secure Communities programs until congress passes a sensible, comprehensive solution to our immigration challenge. We are also asking them to decline to accept any non-criminal detainees turned over to ICE under Arizona's state laws, including SB 1070 and HB 2008.

AzAN along with over 500 organization have asked President Obama to terminate the 287(g) agreements. Read our letter to President Obama. Now it is your turn. Sign the petition to end 287(g) agreements.

Read a comparison of DHS' revised 287(g) MOA and the previous Maricopa County MOA by the ACLU.

Read Comprehensive Immigration Reform solutions offered by American Immigration Lawyers Association

AzAN is launching an education campaign about Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Schedule a presentation for your group now.
Read the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law recommendations on ICE home raids.

http://azanfoundation.org/issues/immigration.html

This page has Joe on it too.

Laura Brown from the Arizona Advocacy Network says the email is another effort to intimidate Hispanics from heading to the polls.

"We thought ‘Oh my goodness, not again’ -- Arizona has such a long history of voter suppression and dirty tricks," she says. "We're very concerned that they're going to go to the polls and harass voters and try to intimidate them."

Why would any hispanic who has a legal right to vote in this country give up that right because of some e-mail! More likely, the ones thinking twice about showing up are hispanics in this country illegally and should not be voting in the first place.

And if illegal invaders feel intimidated to show up then great!