No support from the Federal Government to stop illegal immigration
Sheriff Joe Arpaio (of Phoenix, AZ) Tuesday promised that his deputies will continue to enforce immigration law despite the lack of a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that authorizes immigration enforcement on the streets and in the jails.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote today on a new agreement that would authorize deputies to continue an immigration-enforcement program in Maricopa County jails. However, Supervisor Mary 
Rose Wilcox said Tuesday that she would ask the board to table the vote until federal immigration officials signed off on the agreement, in accordance with county policy.
“There’s a possibility it could get continued,” she said. “It’s probably 50-50 right now.”
Arpaio said he would continue enforcing immigration law on the streets thanks to an opinion from County Attorney Andrew Thomas that allows suspected illegal immigrants to be charged as co-conspirators in their own smuggling. Sheriff’s officials said deputies also would rely on a provision of the federal criminal code that allows local law enforcement to detain someone for “brief warrantless interrogation” where circumstances indicate the person could be in the country illegally.
“I am free of the federal government,” Arpaio said.
The decision to remove part of an agreement that authorized street-level immigration enforcement from deputies but allow such enforcement to continue in the jails was a political ploy from Washington, D.C., Arpaio said. A local ICE spokesman said the agreement Arpaio signed was pending until the Oct. 15 signing deadline.
Since 2007, the Sheriff’s Office has operated under an umbrella agreement authorizing the street-level enforcement and jail operations, but ICE officials announced in July that all the contracts with local law-enforcement agencies were under review. Federal officials have come under pressure from civil-rights, labor, religious and pro-immigrant groups to end the program, known as 287(g), because of racial-profiling fears.
For the rest of the story please go here:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2009/10/07/20091007Arpaio2871007.html
Face Fwd Comments:
I just don’t get it. Most of the Tax Paying Americans want the illegals out, the Arizona Citizens certainly want them out of Phoenix to stop the bloody crime wave, and honest legal immigrants don’t want them here either. However, our federal government continues to create laws to provide safety nets for these illegals and groups like ACLU try to strip our law enforcement officials of their methodologies to keep us safe.
From the USA Today the headlines were “DHS strips Arizona sheriff of authority to patrol for illegal immigrants”. Unless, we get the administration that is in office out in 2012 and vote in someone that supports our borders, we will continue to get these kinds of headlines.
