Thread: Arpaio wasn't always the storm vs. immigration, day laborers

Arpaio wasn't always the storm vs. immigration, day laborers

Oct. 18, 2007 12:00 AM
ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
http://www.azcentral.com

Ardent supporters of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio would not say that he is in the eye of the immigration storm. They would say that he is the storm. That he is the only law-enforcement officer in Arizona doing something about illegal immigration.

In fact, by the time I got to work Wednesday, Capt. Paul Chagolla, the sheriff's spokesman, had sent me (and just about everyone else in the local media) two e-mails pointing to a recent public opinion poll showing that "a majority of voters" support "Arpaio's tough policies on enforcement of (immigration) laws."

When I contacted Arpaio to ask about this he said, "I didn't start doing this for polls. I didn't start this for politics." advertisement


I'll let you decide that one.

The most recent incident to land Arpaio on local and national TV was the arrest by his deputies of day laborers near a Phoenix furniture store. Local police chiefs say that it is a waste of law-enforcement resources to go after such people. Not long ago, Arpaio agreed with them.

A state law aimed at prosecuting human smugglers went into effect in 2005. At the time, when asked about enforcing it, Arpaio said, "I want the authority to lock up smugglers, but I am not going to lock up illegals hanging around street corners. I am not going to waste my resources going after a guy in a truck when he picks up five illegals to go trim palm trees."

I asked him on Wednesday what had changed.

"I didn't have enough resources then," Arpaio said. "I've got 15 deputy positions that the Legislature gave me to hire. I have a unit for that. And I have 160 officers trained (in immigration enforcement). I didn't have it then. Now I do."

The thing is, Arpaio wasn't complaining about a lack of resources in '05. He said that he didn't want to waste his resources.

In the Republic's computer database, the first reference to Arpaio and immigration that I found was in 1993. The article involved a task force made up of deputies and others, including a federal immigration agent. The group's focus wasn't day laborers, however. Instead, the task force had captured 59 dangerous fugitives who had outstanding criminal warrants.

"It's not going to solve the problem," Arpaio said at the time, "but we are going to reduce it."

That didn't happen. There now are between 65,000 and 70,000 outstanding warrants in Maricopa County. The only group actively going after these criminals is a U.S. Marshal's task force in which the sheriff doesn't participate.

Arpaio's reason? Lack of resources.

The sheriff does have the resources to stake out a furniture store parking lot and wait for someone to violate a traffic law, however.

As Arpaio explained it to me, "If we have these problems in a certain area - and illegal immigration is a crime - you go there like you do everywhere else, and if you see someone speeding you stop them. And if they happen to be illegals, because of our training, we arrest them."

An article in Wednesday's Republic noted that the sheriff has nabbed 1,058 people in immigration violations. It also pointed out that immigration holds have been placed on an additional 4,644 foreign-born inmates. Meaning that other departments in the Valley have quietly used their resources to arrest some real bad guys.

Busting tree trimmers plays better on TV, however. And in public opinion polls. So while some police chiefs and politicians argue - at their professional peril - that doing so is not the best use of resources, the sheriff gives frustrated voters exactly what they want.

Immigration enforcement is a fierce political storm, that's for sure. But Arpaio isn't the weather. He's the weather vane.

Public opinion poll showing that "a majority of voters" support "Arpaio's tough policies on enforcement of (immigration) laws."

well thats one so far that shows cnn isnt right