SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL

Self-promotion in Arizona

'America's Toughest Sheriff'milking immigration issue for own ego

2:00 a.m. February 16, 2009

Let's make a few things clear. We support law enforcement, crackdowns on illegal immigration and the notion that jail inmates should not be coddled. We're fine with immigration raids, speedy deportations and more cooperation between local cops and federal immigration officials, as long as everyone stays in his lane and doesn't try to do someone else's job.

Yet, along with many others, we are very troubled by what has been happening in Phoenix, because it has nothing to do with any of the above. Instead, it has to do with one man's relentless pursuit of anything that will keep his name in the newspaper or get his face on television or even help him land his own reality show. It has to do with theatrics and showboating and those who somehow confuse self-promotion with public safety. In short, it has less to do with law enforcement than with ego.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has turned his latest publicity stunt into yet another public spectacle. Arpaio recently paraded about 200 illegal immigrants in shackles and prison stripes from the county jail to a “Tent Cityâ€