PHOENIX
(Daniel Gonzαlez, Arizona Republic) October 17, 2007 Maricopa County
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has ratcheted up his attack on illegal immigrants in
recent weeks, using federally trained deputies to arrest dozens of
undocumented day laborers and corn vendors.
Word of the arrests has spread like wildfire through the immigrant
population, driving some undocumented workers out of Arizona and raising
concerns that crimes against illegal immigrants and others will go
unreported because of deportation fears.
The arrests in Cave Creek, Queen Creek, Maryvale and, most recently, on
Monday outside a furniture store on East Thomas Road in Phoenix are the
latest effort in Arpaio's 18-month campaign to crack down on illegal
immigration in the county.
Arpaio said the crackdown has helped disrupt smuggling operations in the Valley, a major hub for transporting illegal immigrants from the border into the U.S. It has uncovered numerous drop houses and helped capture violent criminals who had been deported.
But it is the arrests of at least 49 day laborers and corn vendors that have raised the most concern from immigrant advocates. The arrests have come just as the state's new employer-sanctions law is taking root, adding to a climate of fear and distrust within the immigrant population, they say.
Arpaio will be in charge of enforcing the sanctions law in Maricopa County when it takes effect Jan. 1, requiring employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of new hires or risk being put out of businesses if caught knowingly hiring illegal workers.
The crackdown also comes at a time when local officials across the country are launching similar crackdowns in the wake of Congress' failure to pass immigration reform.
The crackdown has intensified even as Valley police chiefs, citing limited resources, have resisted mounting public pressure to enforce immigration laws, which is usually the job of the federal government.
So far, the crackdown has netted more than 1,058 undocumented immigrants on state and federal charges. More than 200 of those arrests have come in the past six weeks.
'I never back down'
"When I make a decision, I go full force. I never back down, and I make it a top (priority)," Arpaio said.The crackdown began in March 2006, after County Attorney Andrew Thomas said that undocumented immigrants as well as smugglers could be charged with felonies. It was a controversial interpretation of new state law aimed at cracking down on smuggling organizations.
Of the 1,058 illegal immigrants arrested by deputies, 709 were charged under the smuggling law, including 88 coyote suspects and 621 illegal immigrants charged as co-conspirators by paying a smuggler to bring them into the country illegally.
Arpaio remains the only law-enforcement official in the state to arrest both illegal immigrants and smugglers under the law. The arrests have withstood legal challenges in state court but still face a federal challenge.
In February, Arpaio sought an accord with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help enforce federal immigration laws. The pact authorized the training of 100 deputies to arrest illegal immigrants who pose a national-security or public-safety threat and 60 jail officers to process for deportation the foreign-born inmates booked into the jail.
So far, those trained deputies have arrested more than 349 illegal immigrants out of the 1,058. In addition, trained jail deputies have put immigration holds on an additional 4,644 foreign-born inmates, a move that could lead to deportations.
Alonzo Peρa, special agent in charge of ICE investigations in Phoenix, said none of the operations conducted by Arpaio's deputies have violated the terms of the agreement with ICE. Arpaio must clear all operations beforehand with ICE officials to make sure they comply with the mission to assist federal agents with the arrest of illegal immigrants involved with drug trafficking, immigrant smuggling, gang activity and more.
"If you are using our authority, it's not just to round up corn vendors and day laborers," he said. "He's not doing this in a vacuum. We knew of all these operations. We approve of all these operations," though in some cases modifications have been made.
In July, Arpaio also launched the controversial hotline that critics contend invites racial-profiling. Arpaio has advertised the hotline on 24 billboards posted on the sides of department-owned trucks. The billboards say, "Do not illegally enter. Help Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio fight illegal immigration."
The crackdown, however, has drawn praise and criticism. Supporters say he is the only law-enforcement chief in the Valley willing to navigate the political minefield of arresting illegal immigrants.
"He's willing to acknowledge that local law enforcement has a legitimate and proactive role in combating illegal immigration," said Thomas, Arpaio's ally. "It's politically incorrect to engage local law enforcement in the fight against illegal immigration. For our trouble, we have been picketed, sued, vilified in the media and threatened."
Randy Pullen, chairman of the Arizona Republican Party and an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, said he believes other Valley law-enforcement officials are bowing to political pressure from Democratic-controlled city councils and special-interest groups as well as the large and fast-growing Latino population.
"I think that's part of it. But what part of the Hispanic community are they afraid of upsetting? Not the legal ones," Pullen said.
'A red herring'
Valley police chiefs argue that limited resources should be used to arrest
criminals, not migrants whose only offense is being in the country
illegally.
"That's a red herring," Pullen said. "They already spend 80 to 90 percent of
their resources on misdemeanor offenses that are no different than
immigration misdemeanors."
Critics, meanwhile, say Arpaio is arresting illegal immigrants to grab
headlines and capitalize on the public's frustration with Congress' failure
to pass immigration reform.
"He's more concerned with grandstanding and media attention than he is with
placing violent criminals behind bars," said Peter Schey, executive director
of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law Foundation. The
California-based organization is suing to stop Arpaio from arresting
undocumented immigrants as conspirators under the state's anti-smuggling
law.
Others accuse Arpaio of overstepping the bounds of the agreement with ICE by
using federally trained deputies to round up undocumented day laborers and
corn vendors. ICE, however, says the sheriff is operating within his rights.
"Sheriff Arpaio is doing immigration raids under the guise of enforcing the
law," said day-labor advocate Salvador Reza, one of 25 mostly Hispanic
community leaders who held a news conference Monday to denounce the arrests.
As a result, migrants are now afraid to call police to report crimes out
fear they could be deported, he said
"Instead of getting rid of criminals, they are giving them safe haven
because no one is going to call police," Reza said.
Dick White, president of the Valley Interfaith Project, a network of
churches and faith-based groups, said undocumented immigrants living in a
north Phoenix neighborhood recently learned a registered sex offender was
living nearby. But the migrants were afraid to contact police to see what
kind of threat the man posed. Instead, the migrants contacted their priest.
"All of us who don't have papers, we are afraid," said Nora, 40, one of the
migrants. (She asked that her last name not be used because she is
undocumented.)
Some undocumented workers say they are afraid to drive because of Arpaio's
crackdown. Others say they are considering leaving the state, which,
advocates say, could hurt the economy.
Arpaio said that indicates his crackdown, aimed at deterring illegal
immigration, is working.
"If you say they are leaving, I have accomplished my mission," Arpaio said.
