PHOENIX (By Emily Gersema, Arizona Republic) November 5, 2007 — The legal director of the state American Civil Liberties Union office was arrested Saturday on trespassing charges during a demonstration supporting day laborers.

For the second weekend in a row this year, the M.D. Pruitt's store at 34th Street and Thomas Road was the site of a protest with potential for confrontation between local authorities and immigrants' supporters.

Demonstrators said the crowd of 15 to 20 people dissipated around 1 p.m., which is when Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies arrested Daniel Pochoda, 65, of Phoenix, on suspicion of trespassing on store grounds.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Pochoda was taken in handcuffs to the county's Fourth Avenue Jail after deputies asked him six times to move his car off Pruitt's parking lot and get off the property.The protest leader, Salvador Reza, couldn't confirm what happened. He said demonstrators didn't see the exchange or even know about the arrest.

Off-duty deputies hired for security at Pruitt's and surrounding businesses had warned demonstrators, counter-protesters and reporters there that morning to stay off the property during the demonstration. Most obeyed, standing on the public sidewalk, but Pochoda refused, said Arpaio, who wasn't at the furniture store during the arrest, but appeared there later to respond to media questions.

Pochoda could not be reached for comment. Arpaio's deputies have arrested dozens of undocumented day laborers in recent months using federally-trained deputies. Word of the arrests of workers and corn vendors has spread through the Valley's immigrant population through neighbors, friends and Spanish-language media, causing fear and anxiety.

The arrests by deputies also have raised concerns among some Valley law enforcement officials that some crimes against undocumented immigrants will go unreported because of fear of deportation.

The sheriff's office and the ACLU have had a contentious relationship. The organization, which Pochoda joined last February, has said that the sheriff is misapplying a state law aimed at punishing anyone caught smuggling immigrants into the United States. Sheriff's deputies have arrested hundreds of suspected illegal immigrants on suspicion of smuggling themselves in recent months.

Pruitt's has been the backdrop of a simmering dispute between immigration supporters and local shop owners who complain that persistent presence of day laborers in the area is interfering with business. A handful of counter-protesters briefly held signs Saturday morning, demanding enforcement of immigration laws, but soon left the scene. A woman who refused to give her name said members didn't want draw any more attention to the day laborers.

The neighborhood business owners have hired off-duty sheriff's deputies for security while the demonstrations continue. Protesters vowed to march there every Saturday until Christmas.

Last week, Arpaio and a group of his on-duty deputies showed up at the demonstration. Arpaio said he was concerned that trouble would erupt because he had heard 2,000 protesters would be there. But turnout was small - about two dozen - and only one person was arrested, Arpaio said. The man was cuffed after yelling in opposition of the protest.

However, the county deputies trained in federal immigration law arrested more than 100 illegal immigrants in the neighborhood whose status was discovered after they were pulled over for traffic violations.

Arpaio said anyone accusing him of preying on the demonstrators and surrounding neighborhood should know that he and his team are enforcing immigration laws everywhere.

The off-duty deputies weren't involved in the arrests, Arpaio said, and they are being paid for security by the businesses, not the county.

Reza complained that the sheriff ended up using the protest to stage a "dog and pony show" where he and his deputies intimidated demonstrators. "The only thing he didn't have with him was his tank," Reza said.