Thread: Sheriff locks up 19 more suspected illegal immigrants

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 27-ON.html

Sheriff locks up 19 more suspected illegal immigrants

Brent Whiting
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 27, 2006 12:20 PM


Maricopa County sheriff's deputies have arrested 19 more undocumented migrants, placing them behind bars for prosecution under an anti-smuggling law adopted by the Legislature last year.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Thursday that the 19 were nabbed following a vehicle stop about 7 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 8 near Gila Bend.

The 19, who were brought to Phoenix and booked into a Maricopa County jail, were found in the back of a truck that was pulled over for speeding, Arpaio said.

The arrests brings to 109 the number of people who have been arrested by deputies in six separate incidents, he said.

He said his office is the only Arizona law-enforcement agency that is enforcing the controversial human-smuggling law. The measure took effect Aug. 12.

"If other law-enforcement agencies enforced this law, far more illegal immigrants would be jailed today," Arpaio said.

State Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, the lawmaker who sponsored the measure, has said the law was intended to go after immigrant smugglers, not migrants.

But Arpaio said that if there are people who don't like the way his deputies are enforcing the law, that's just "too bad."



Reach the reporter at brent.whiting@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6937.

I say WELL DONE...we need more police departments like this, rather than the HANDS OFF policy that seems to be the norm....start having local police making arrests and you would see a serious dent...say 5,000 police departments nation wide each arrested 100 in the course of a year...that 1/2 million gone would start sending a serious signal.

Pinto Bean