America's Voice Blog

Posted 07/16/10 at 03:28pm By Adam Luna

NEW REPORT:  Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Notorious Record

The “Model Sheriff” for Arizona’s SB 1070, Joe Arpaio, has a record of failed crime fighting tactics, civil rights abuses and creating terror in the communities he’s supposed to protect.

Today, we here at America’s Voice Education Fund released a new report detailing the long, disturbing and ineffective record of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ.
 
The report reveals some 21 examples of Arpaio’s disturbing record, among them:

  • Violent crime rates are up in Arpaio’s jurisdiction while they have fallen throughout the rest of Arizona.

  • Arpaio has failed to serve over 40,000 felony warrants. Arpaio is suspected of misspending $50 million in taxpayer funds and has refused to turn over records for an investigation.

  • Over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio and he’s been investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Departments of Justice and Labor.

  • Evidence exists that Arpaio forced an undocumented mother to give birth while handcuffed to a bed.

Click here to read more.
Posted 06/02/10 at 01:51pm By Guest Blogger

Courageous Student Activists Confront Controversial Arpaio with Humanity

The courageous Trail of Dreams students are at it again.  Having completed a 1500 mile trek from Miami to Washington fighting for their cause to end the deportation of students and separation of families, the student activists traveled to Arizona to request a meeting with the controversial, anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Watch as some of the students explain their motivation for scheduling a rendezvous with "America's Toughest Sheriff":

The students got a chance to explain their stories and voice their concerns, and received a surprising response.

The Arizona Republic reports:

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio met Tuesday in Phoenix with a small group of college students from across the nation protesting America's immigration laws  - a discussion that produced tears, hugs and laughter.

Arpaio said he is compassionate toward the plight of undocumented immigrants but that he will continue to enforce the immigration  laws that are on the books. The five student activists said that as children they were brought into the country illegally by their parents. The five recently walked from Miami to Washington, D.C., meeting with law-enforcement officials and political leaders along the way. After arriving in the capital, they came to Arizona and requested a meeting with Arpaio.

Arpaio said the students' quest for immigration reform  would have to start at the national level.

Surprised that the students were so willing to embrace the Sheriff with a hug , we asked them via Twitter if it was really true, to which they responded (Via twitter):

“Yea! First step to beat hatred in our enemies is to acknowledge humanity in them so they may witness the humanity in us.”

Surprisingly, the Sheriff encouraged the students to continue their fight, stating:

"You keep fighting the fight, make sure you get to D.C. and talk to the politicians."

It’s unclear exactly what sort of progress Sheriff Arpaio would like to see them make, however, given his long history of abuse, racial profiling, and hijacking real immigration solutions with cheap political stunts.

By Guest Blogger Will Sharry.

Posted 01/16/10 at 12:35pm By Jackie Mahendra

Live-Blogging from Arizona Anti-Arpaio March: Pictures, Stories and More

marchToday I'm proud to team up with Sarahi Uribe from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and Adam Luna from America's Voice, as well as our many blog-migos in the twitter-verse, to chronicle the massive anti-Arpaio march and rally happening right now in Phoenix, Arizona!

Expect updates every 15 minutes or so (displayed in Phoenix time), and leave us some comment-love. For background on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's abuses in Arizona, click here. To donate water and help cover the costs of today's major demonstration, please click here (NDLON donation page).

3:45 PM: Here's the slideshow of today's event:

3:15 PM: Our live-blogging is drawing to a close. Before we shut things down for today, I'll post a slideshow of the march. We'll have more stories throughout the week, so stay tuned!

3:08 PM: March and concert wrap up, with closing words from Dolores Huerta: "Si se puede! We can achieve immigration reform and stop the incarceration of our families."

2:53: PM: From ABC15.com, this little insight: "And to counter noise from the protest, Tent City officials planned to play music over the jail's announcement system."

2:47 PM: Just realized we didn't see any counter-protesters today! Overall mood: good, but a little hungry and tired. People are breaking out the ice cream, listening to the music on stage. [Adam /America's Voice]

2:40 PM: Coming up... slideshow of march.

2:32 PM: From Chris Newman, head of NDLON, one organizer of the march (in response to pepper spray incident): "All we know at this point is that 4 people were arrested.  Unclear whether or not the minutemen planted people at the march."

2:20 PM: Little Joe is on stage. Moment of silence for Haiti. [Sarahi /NDLON]

2:05 PM: Pepper spray was isolated incident, crowd peacefully protesting here in front of Sheriff Joe's jail.  Families, drums, celebratory. [Adam /America's Voice]

1:45 PM: Via DawnTeo on Twitter: "Arpaio march: 6 protesters reporting tear gas or pepper spray (probably the latter); @layalzebulb says maybe tasers; 1 arrested."

1:42 PM: Crowd is pumped up and smiling, people chanting, "Oye, Obama - donde esta le reforma?" In English: "Hey, Obama-- where's the Reform?" [Adam /America's Voice]

1:30 PM: First pictures of security surrounding tent city -- intense. Peaceful protest.

1:20 PM: Arriving at tent city...crowd keeps growing! [Sarahi/NDLON] See security surrounding tent city.

1:15 PM: Many marchers are posting photos and video on twitter. Check out these images from Jose602. The first is of protesters painted as "illegal aliens" (in protest of the term), and the second is a truck that's carrying water for the marchers, which has been painted with the words: "Justice takes time, but always comes."

12:43 PM: More images coming in from the 3-mile march to Tent City. One man caries a sign that reads, in Spanish, "Obama, Where is the Reform?":

Here's a closeup on that.

Also, watch Spanish-language interviews from Telemundo on MSN Latino. Guest-blogger Sarahi Uribe is interviewed in Spanish and argues that what is happening in Arizona has to be addressed by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and President Obama directly with federal immigration reform that does not allow more Sheriff Joe Arpaio's to flourish.

12:28 PM: From the twitter-verse:

@JavierSoto3TV: http://twitpic.com/yd3d9 - Pictures from the protest; http://twitpic.com/ycxz8 - Police presence @ a premium for the Anti-Arpio protest

@willcoley: Arpaio watches over the marchers in Phoenix with a helicopter & video cameras. We aint stopping! #immigration #azhumanrights #dwn #fb

@NAKASEC: hey not sure what the big deal is with #arpaio? read pulitzer prize:... http://bit.ly/7SdG0r

12:02 PM: About 5,000 people begin march. [Adam/America's Voice]. Conservative estimate? 10,000. [Sarahi/NDLON]

Arpaio march Check out who's carrying the banner, at right. It's Zack de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, who Lemons interviews:

De la Rocha talked of his support for organizations such as Tonatierra/Macehualli, the human rights group Puente, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network:

"When you hear about the conditions in the [jails], when you hear about these so called crime sweeps in which the undocumented and documented alike are being pulled over and threatened and intimidated incessantly...I believe that these organizations are becoming the conscience of the country with regard to immigration rights, in regards to workers rights all over the country. That's why I'm here to support them."

12:00 PM: Check out more background on the march from Stephen Piggott at Imagine2050.net:

There is a tremendous sense of fear, anticipation, and excitement in the air. The good folks at Puente, AZ who have organized the march remain incredibly calm as 10 am approaches, the time the march is due to start. 

11:45 AM: Linda Rondstadt: "Joe Arpaio only builds divisiveness. It's time for him to go." [Sarahi/NDLON]

More background on today's march from Stephen Lemons at the Phoenix New Times, who's been covering the saga of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County for years. Lemons quotes musician Rondstadt in a piece this morning:

Ronstadt spoke as a native daughter of Arizona:

"I'm here because I'm an Arizonan. I was born in Arizona. My father was born in Arizona. My grandmother was born in Arizona. I love Arizona, and Sheriff Arpaio is bad for Arizona. He's making Arizona look bad because he's profiling and he's applying the law in an uneven and unjust way, and that weakens the law for all of us."

11:35 AM: Tom Saenz, president of MALDEF, says: "Joe Arpaio you might have the badge, but we have history on our side. You might have the badge, but we have justice on our side. You might have the badge, but we have the constitution on our side. You might have the badge, but we have the power of the people. [Sarahi/NDLON]

11:34 AM: A couple updates from the twitter-verse-- no firm number yet on the number of protesters, lots of great art, and famous musician Linda Rondstadt  expressing her support.

Huerta and Reza

@DawnTeo: Mixed reports on number of Arpaio protesters today. Estimates range from hundreds (@arizonarepublic) to 20k (@_jedition_) #arpaio #p2 #tcot

@WillColey: Lots of great Arpaio paper mâché heads at the march in Phoenix! Pics soon! #azhumanrights #immigration #fb

@inaudwetrust: Linda Rondstant showing support at the anti arpaio march http://twitpic.com/yctpc

Here's a photo of renowned civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta and long-time Arizona community organizer Salvador Reza, kicking off today's event:

10:49 AM: Dolores Huerta is firing up the crowd. Great to see folks from LA, Miami, Chicago, El Paso, Denver... from all over! Good to see so many families. [Sarahi/NDLON]

Here's a picture of the crowd getting started:

Marchers

Posted 01/15/10 at 08:12am By Jackie Mahendra

USA Today on Saturday’s March: Arpaio’s Arizona is ‘ground zero’ of immigration fight

march

USA Today reports that Arizona has become 'ground zero' of our nation's immigration fight, largely on account of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial tactics and several anti-immigrant measures that have made their way into law there: 

When activists from around the country rally for immigrants' rights Saturday, it's no coincidence that they'll converge here.

Arizona is the flash point of the immigration debate, a place where high levels of illegal immigration have led to state and local restrictions, most recently a law that requires government workers to report illegal immigrants seeking public benefits.

Perhaps the most visible figure in Arizona's immigration politics is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He has won praise and condemnation for having deputies swarm neighborhoods, stopping people in search of criminals and illegal immigrants.

The article continues by citing the Justice Department investigation into Arpaio's tactics (but fails to mention that Sheriff Joe is also being investigated by the FBI and summoned before a Grand Jury right now, too...):

His department is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegations of racial profiling and discrimination based on national origin.

Arpaio says that won't stop him. "I'm not going to ignore the laws because of pressure from Washington or demonstrators or politicians," he says.

Click here to read more.
Posted 01/08/10 at 06:03pm By Jackie Mahendra

Grand Jury to Probe Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Beginning of the End?

In the latest development in the Sheriff Joe Arpaio saga, the Department of Justice is convening a grand jury to look into various allegations that “America’s Toughest Sheriff” has been abusing his power.

According to Zachary Roth at Talking Points Memo:

The probe appears focused on two related but different areas. It began as an inquiry into whether Arpaio's office had violated civil-rights laws as part of its aggressive tactics to round up illegal immigrants. But it appears also now to be looking into whether Arpaio used his office to target and intimidate political opponents, as several have claimed.

Both Maricopa County Manager, David Smith, and Deputy County Manager, Sandi Wilson, are scheduled to appear before the Jury next week. Both have clashed with the Sheriff in the past. KPHO News quotes Smith:

The Sheriff's Office starts an investigation and goes looking for a crime…Most agencies see a crime then start an investigation.

He goes on to say that the Sheriff is “out of control.”

The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives has held hearings; the Department of Homeland Security has given Arpaio a slap on the wrist; the Department of Justice is investigating Arpaio for civil rights violations; and the FBI is doing the same in Phoenix.

With lawyers protesting the Sheriff's recent dealings and local advocates planning a massive demonstration in Phoenix next week, here's hoping this could be the beginning of the end of what many Arizona groups are calling Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "reign of terror" in Maricopa County.

 

Posted 12/23/09 at 02:06pm By Adam Luna

Lawyers Protest Arpaio, Former Lawyer for Sheriff Calls Him “Totalitarian”

300 lawyers in suits protested Maricopa County Attorney, Andrew Thomas, charging him and Sheriff Joe Arpaio with making a complete mockery of the justice system.  Headlining the protest weren’t left-leaning activist attorneys like the ones you might expect . They were self-described conservative Republicans, one of whom actually worked as a prosecutor for Arpaio -- before she couldn’t take it anymore.

From the Arizona Republic:

Sheila Polk, a Republican and career prosecutor, spent six months working on two of the cases sought by Thomas and Arpaio in their ongoing battle against county officials and the courts. Her office handled the first criminal case against Supervisor Don Stapley and the investigation into the disputed Superior Court tower project. 

In her letter [an opinion piece published in the Arizona Republic], Polk wrote that although Maricopa County isn't her jurisdiction, she can't sit by and watch the abuses from a distance anymore:

I am conservative and passionately believe in limited government, not the totalitarianism that is spreading before my eyes...the actions of Arpaio and Thomas are a disservice to the hundreds of dedicated men and women who work in their offices and a threat to the entire criminal-justice system.

Click here to read more.
Posted 11/04/09 at 10:37am By Jackie Mahendra

Arpaio: Arizona’s Bully With a Badge Under FBI Investigation, Too

What does Sheriff Arpaio do when he’s criticized?

Faiz Shakir and his team at Think Progress have a damning rundown of what many are calling “Arpaio's Abuse Of Power.” From the Progress Report:

This weekend, news reports revealed that the FBI is investigating whether Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been "using his position to settle political vendettas" against those who have been critical of his controversial tactics, namely his bullish pursuit of undocumented immigrants.

That’s right, the FBI is investigating Arpaio for allegedly using his power as Sheriff to “to settle political vendettas.” 

According to KPHO News: 

Over the past year, 5 Investigators examined more than two dozen complaints against the sheriff from business owners, government workers, mayors and law-enforcement officials.

They claim they spoke out against Arpaio, and shortly after, deputies paid them unwelcome visits.

According to Zachary Roth of Talking Points Memo, the names on Arpaio’s target list consist of those who have authority over the sheriff or those who have challenged his authority at some point in time.  On his black list include a number of high-profile officials and journalists, ranging from a Superior Court Judge to his opponent in Maricopa County’s 2004 and 2008 run for Sheriff.

Click here to read more.
Posted 10/20/09 at 04:58pm By Adam Luna

Invoking Bull Connor, CNN’s Rick Sanchez takes Arpaio to Task on Racial Profiling

Last night, CNN’s Rick Sanchez called out Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ, for admitting to racial profiling during his “crime suppression sweeps” of Latino neighborhoods.

Watch it:

At the end of the interview, Sheriff Joe basically thumbs his nose at Federal officials who have criticized Arpaio’s sweeps (despite renewing cooperation agreements with him):

SANCHEZ: You're going to sit there and tell the feds, you don't care what they say, you're going to do it your way and you're going to do it when you want to do it? 

ARPAIO: No, they don't tell me how to do my job enforcing state laws. I worked 25 years as a top Justice Department drug enforcement official. I think I know the federal law and how to operate under the federal blanket. So... 

SANCHEZ: All right. Well, for the record, they're saying you don't and they're saying you're violating it. 

ARPAIO: Then come on after me, if he thinks I'm violating any of -- federal laws. 

Sanchez gets it right when he says that not since Bull Connor has a confrontation between a local Sheriff and the federal government come to such a standoff. So, is it 2009 or 1963, when Bull Connor's aggressive police tactics against blacks in the South sparked civil rights legislation?

Here is Arpaio’s interpretation of the law-- straight from the previous interview with Rick Sanchez shown above.  Arpaio is arresting people because of "the clothes they wear, their speech":

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question. How do you know when you arrest someone that they're illegal? 

ARPAIO: Well, first of all, Rick, we do it pursuant to our duties. When we come across someone on another crime and we find out that they are illegal, we take action. If those that have not committed a crime, we had the training -- we still do -- we turn them over to ICE. It's very simple. 

SANCHEZ: But you just said you detain people who haven't committed a crime. How do you prove that they're not legal? 

ARPAIO: It has to do with their conduct, what type of clothes they're wearing, their speech. They admit it. They may have phony I.D.s, a lot of variables involved. 

Click here to read more.
Posted 10/19/09 at 03:33pm By Paco Fabian

Arpaio’s Arizona: So Much for the Rule of Law

Arpaio Reports from late last week and through the weekend are coming in regarding Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his latest “crime” sweep, this time in the aptly named town of Surprise, Arizona.

Sheriff Arpaio signed his first 287g agreement with the Bush Administration, and has since been given free rein to commit civil rights abuses and terrorize the Latino community in Maricopa County. Last week, Obama’s DHS acted to limit his authority, by signing an agreement that only allows his to check the immigration status of inmates in county jails.  As my colleague Adam Luna argued last week, DHS and Napolitano did not go far enough in limiting his power. 

It’s no surprise is that Sheriff Joe decided to go ahead with his 12th crime sweep of a Latino-heavy neighborhood to date.  He seems to be thumbing his nose at federal officials, vowing to continue his intimidation tactics, regardless of what the law says:

According to Sheriff's Office spokesman Brian Lee, Arpaio has vowed to continue his enforcement of all aspects of immigration laws and says that the federal government’s move to strip deputies of their ICE agent status will not change anything.

Citing a 1996 federal law, Arpaio said officials are allowed to detain someone briefly if that person is in the country illegally.

Click here to read more.
Posted 10/16/09 at 10:28am By Adam Luna

Obama’s DHS to Sign Cooperation Agreement With Racial Profiler, Sheriff Arpaio, Today

Update 5:30 pm EST: Arpaio's renewed Cooperation Agreement with DHS confirmed. Defiant Arpaio "sweeps" to take place this evening in Surprise, AZ.

News is expected to break today that the Obama administration will grant federal immigration law enforcement authority to this guy:

"I will do another crime suppression very soon to show Washington and everybody else I'm not changing, I will not be intimidated by Congress, by alleged racial profiling investigations by the Justice Department, by all these demonstrators, these politicians, all trying to keep me from doing my job, so nothing will change. Stay tuned."

Introducing Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona.

Small-town, crazy man? Nope – Arpaio is the chief law enforcement officer of a jurisdiction larger than that of 48 US Senators, and though it might sound like something an Alabama politician would have said in 1948, Arpaio said it about a week ago.

Arpaio picks a predominantly Latino community, and unleashing officers and his “posse” (the official name) of armed deputized citizens demanding to see proof of legal status from Latinos. A broken tail light in Maricopa might result in an hour-long interrogation or the deportation of your cousin. And Arpaio has announced that he is doing one of these sweeps TODAY.

This stuff can’t be made up: under investigation by the Justice Department and the FBI, sued thousands of times for civil rights violations and racial profiling; marches chain gangs through town; and his jails have lost their health accreditation. He even forces prisoners to wear pink underwear and eat green bologna sandwiches. He calls the press, laughs about it, exploits the racial divide and gets reelected.

All of this has brought him notoriety among a certain set. He has been praised on white nationalist websites and was named honorary chair of Mitt Romney’s Arizona campaign.

Arpaio’s tactics are the realization of the right-wing immigration strategy called “attrition through enforcement,” which basically means that to clean the streets of “illegals” you scare the shit out of immigrant families and keep entire communities in a state of constant terror to the point that they “self deport.” But you can’t terrorize a mom and not terrorize her US citizen daughter, so you terrorize them all.

Arpaio is working with the federal government under the auspices of a section of immigration law called “287(g).” It was created by the Republican Congress and signed by the Clinton administration in 1996, but it wasn’t until the Bush era that the program really got going.

Click here to read more.

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