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Controversial Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio and former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias are involved in a controversy related to an FBI investigation, Talking Points Memo highlights. Arpaio, known as “America’s toughest sheriff” is currently under investigation by the FBI for targeting his political foes in apparent retaliation, according to KHPO, a Phoenix area TV station. Iglesias told KPHO, that he would “seek an indictment” against Arpaio if he were the U.S. Attorney in Arpaio’s area. Then things get even stranger, with Arpaio’s office releasing a statement attacking Iglesias’ reputation. The statement reads in part: *** Rather than dignify...

Through his DHS secretary, President Obama continues to make life in the United States more dangerous. Janet Napolitanto is doing everything she can to stop the enforcement of immigration law in the US. She has said that she will only concentrate on "criminal aliens" when enforcing federal immigration law. But wait if they came into the US illegally aren't they ALL "criminal aliens?" She is also directing DHS to gag local law enforcement agencies around the country to protect the privacy of illegal aliens... “Any information regarding individuals encountered through the enforcement of federal law is ultimately protected,” Nantel said....

Arpaio for governor? New poll says he has the support Email: dbiscobing@abc15.com Arpaio for governor? Polls say he has the support PHOENIX - Sheriff Joe Arpaio rarely keeps a low profile. Never afraid of attention or controversy and always outspoken, he leaves little unsaid. And that includes a race for governor. "There's an old saying in politics: Never say never," Arpaio said. "I know I would make an excellent governor." Arpaio has not officially announced his candidacy, and he never may. But in recent weeks, he's teased and hinted. It's not the first time. "Twice I've looked into it and...

Disgraced journalist Rick Sanchez can’t seem to stop falsely-accusing people of racism on his daily CNN show. How do you follow up trying to destroy Rush Limbaugh with a fake quote about slavery having merit? You accuse Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio of being another Bull Connor. Arpaio has become a man of controversy recently as some in the Obama administration do not care for his tactics in arresting illegal aliens. (This controversy was featured and detailed in another NewsReal blog here.) Arpaio has been elected five times in his county. He is famous for his frugality in taking care of...

Sheriff Joe held a sweep in NW Phoenix, Friday October 16, 2009. He had a press conference after. US Department of Justice Officials (approximately 5) showed up at the conference, UNDERCOVER, POSING AS REPORTERS. When contacted by a Sheriff commander, the Federal Civil Rights officials posing as journalists, conducted themselves "unprofessionally" and "refused to provide official identification. Only one official from the "covert team provided any form of ID when pressed." That was the senior trial attorney, (phonetics) G. Yong Jung. She has been conducting the DOJ's investigation of the Sheriff's office re: allegations of racial profiling. Ms. Yong Jung...

PHOENIX - The final numbers are out on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's 2-day crime sweep. A total of 66 people were arrested, according to MCSO spokesperson Aaron Douglas. More News » Of the 66 detained, 30 were suspected illegal aliens. 19 of them have been turned over to federal immigration agents. The remaining 11 suspects were taken into custody on state charges. The crime suppression operation is the 12th of its kind. Deputies have started video taping their traffic stops, to combat the use of activist groups recording them.

Some interesting results from the latest Rasmussen poll on illegal immigration show that voters overwhelmingly support conservative public policy on the issue. "U.S. voters want aggressive action to restrict illegal immigration, but they don’t think immigrants should bear the brunt of the enforcement efforts on their own. Most say the federal government and those hiring illegal immigrants also need to be brought into the discussion. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% say the policies of the federal government encourage people to enter the United States illegally. Only 27% disagree, and 17% are not sure. "

Calling himself “the poster boy” for those who oppose the enforcement of federal immigration laws, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he will continue to arrest individuals who are in the country illegally, even if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not renew the 287(g) agreement that the Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff’s Office has operated under for the past two years. “We’ve been doing it for two years and have been very successful, but I guess they don’t like to enforce illegal immigration laws,” Arpaio told CNSNews.com. “[It] doesn’t make any difference. I’m still going to continue my programs, regardless of what...

Too many people on the liberal side of the fence argue that illegal immigration is a racial issue. People who want to protect the US borders are inspired by racism, trying to keep out Hispanics (this is a different kind of racism than you are accused of if you disagree with the POTUS) Of course fighting immigration is not a race issue. Illegal immigration is a law and order and anti-terrorism issue. People forget that the Jhadist Hosam Maher Husein Smadi who was arrested the FBI after trying to blow up a building in downtown Dallas was in this country...

USAToday has an article today about Sheriff Joe in Arizona being told by DHS to stop looking for illegals. Also, I posted this story yesterday about the illegals detention facility in Texas being emptied a couple of weeks ago, and illegals transferred into unguarded hotel facilities with free food, and medical care.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio alleged Thursday that a national community activist organization is using federal and state funds to fight his efforts to enforce immigration law. Arpaio sent subpoenas to the local chapter and national headquarters of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, asking for a wide array of records he says will connect the organization to a racial profiling lawsuit he is challenging in federal court. That lawsuit was filed by the immigrant advocacy group Somos America and five Latinos, all of whom are U.S. citizens or are in the country legally, according to...

Sheriff Arpaio Continues with Human Smuggling Interdiction and Felony Crackdown despite Ongoing Controversy Phoenix, AZ - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio reports his deputies made 37 arrests in five short hours last night during a human smuggling interdiction. Deputies conducted several traffic stops on I-17 near Anthem and various parts of the East Valley, which led to 37 arrested, 36 of whom were illegal aliens, 23 were booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail under state felony smuggling charges. The remaining eleven arrested under federal charges were transferred to ICE. In the past five weeks, Sheriff’s deputies have arrested 207 illegal...

Sorry but the story is an Associated Press Story so link only.

  You may have heard of Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio who has been a one man border enforcement machine - doing the job the feds refuse to do. Well, Joe got himself in a spot of trouble with Obama administration immigration enforcement officials at Homeland Security by rounding up 13 illegal immigrants and trying to deliver them to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. One would think that ICE would be grateful to Sheriff Joe for doing their work for them. Not according to this editorial in the Washington Times. It seems that in the end, Joe...

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials ordered a Maricopa County, Arizona sheriff to release dozens of illegal immigrants arrested during a recent sweep. The three-day sweep caught up 74 suspected illegal aliens. However, when the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office called ICE regarding the recently arrested illegal aliens, the agency ordered deputies to release all who did not have a criminal conviction in the U.S. According to a report from Judicial Watch, this constituted a violation of the partnership agreement, known as 287(g), that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department has had with ICE for two years. The mystery order resulted in...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Saturday he ordered his deputies to tape conversations with federal officials after a dispute over who called for the release of illegal immigrants arrested in a crime sweep. Arpaio said a total of 13 illegal immigrants have been released — three on Thursday and 10 on Friday — after federal officials said their arrests didn’t fit new Department of Homeland Security policies and ordered the deputies to release them. The sheriff’s claim over the releases was initially contradicted by a Homeland Security official. In the recording, multiple tracks detail conversations between deputies and ICE...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Washington attorney said Tuesday they will not cooperate with an ongoing Department of Justice investigation into the sheriff's office until the feds name specific charges and reveal what they are looking for. Arpaio also said Tuesday during a heavily attended press conference in Phoenix he will not be intimidated nor back down in his methods of crime sweeps that have netted the arrests of 4,000 illegal immigrants in the last two and a half months. Arpaio's office is accused of racial profiling during crime sweeps and is the target of a civil rights...

One of the main counterbalances to Maricopa County Sheriff’s Joe Arpaio’s hard-nosed approach to immigration is leaving Arizona to take a job in San Francisco. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has picked Mesa Police Chief George Gascon to head up that city’s police department. Gascon will take over for exiting Chief Heather Fong. Gascon has criticized Arpaio’s crime sweeps of day labor sights and businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants, including actions in Mesa.

Americans are too soft. We so desperately want to help people that we end up hurting ourselves. We did it with welfare, we do it in the war on terror, and we do it when it comes to Illegal immigration. Too many people on the liberal side of the fence argue that illegal immigration is a racial issue. Those of us that want to protect the US boarders inspired by racism, trying to keep out Hispanics. This is simply not true. Illegal immigration is a Law and Order Issue and a anti-terrorism issue. President Obama's Justice Department and the Department...

PHOENIX - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his attorneys said in a press conference Monday that the U.S. Department of Justice and Homeland Security have an ulterior motive in their investigation into the sheriff's office. Arpaio and his attorneys outlined their reasons for demanding an investigation into the two agencies for unethical conduct and improper political influence during the course of their investigation of Arpaio's illegal immigration enforcement policies. "After serving with the DOJ for nearly 30 years as a ranking official with the DEA, it is almost painful to have to ask for this investigation," Arpaio says. "But...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio sent 200 deputies and volunteers to the Avondale area to crack down on crime and illegal immigration. The sheriff’s office is setting up a command base for the effort on Van Buren Street in the west-side suburb. The sheriff has organized similar crime sweeps over the past year in Mesa, east Phoenix, north Phoenix and Guadalupe. Critics say the tactics unfairly target Hispanics. The American Civil Liberties Union and Hispanic activists sued Arpaio in federal court saying the raids amount to racial profiling. The Obama administration also is looking into Arpaio’s enforcement policy.

She said this on CNN over the weekend: KING: A lot of Democrats in Congress want to you investigate [Joe Arpaio]. They think he is over the line. He says he is just enforcing the law and the problem is the federal government. NAPOLITANO: Well, you know, Sheriff Joe, he is being very political in that statement, because he knows that there aren’t enough law enforcement officers, courtrooms or jail cells in the world to do what he is saying. What we have to do is target the real evil-doers in this business, the employers who consistently hire illegal labor,...

The Reverend Al Sharpton must be running out of things to protest.  Yesterday he went after Sheriff Joe Arpaio. According to a report by Reuters, the opportunist Sharpton, called on Sheriff Joe to resign accusing him of racially profiling Hispanics because of his attempts to enforce US immigration laws: Under a deal allowing them to enforce federal immigration laws, the deputies have arrested more than 1,500 people who they determined were in Arizona illegally, triggering street protests and condemnation from Latino activists who accuse him of racial profiling." I am first calling for the resignation and or removal of Sheriff...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio will likely be central to Thursday’s congressional hearings on local immigration enforcement. But Arpaio won’t be there. The sheriff was not formally invited. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan and chairman of the U.S. House judiciary committee, called on Arpaio to testify at the hearings in public statements to the media. “When I get invited, someone either has to call me or write a letter,” Arpaio said. “I never got anything. I don’t care what the media says.” Instead, Mesa Police Chief George Gascón and seven others will testify before the U.S. House judiciary committee. The...

Thirty-five thousand people from all over the country signed a petition calling on the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to investigate Arizona's infamous Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Meanwhile, Arpaio received a letter from the Justice Department Wednesday informing him of a probe into allegations of discriminatory and unconstitutional searches and seizures. Finally, it seems that the abusive Maricopa County lawman could get what's coming to him. The petition, initiated by America's Voice, a Washington-based group for immigration reform, was delivered to the agencies Wednesday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Min.), Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Rep. Jerrold...

More federal government interference, more violations of the 10th Amendment. Maybe Conyers should investigate himself House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and three fellow Democrats want the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights complaints against controversial sheriff Joe Arpaio. The lawmakers, in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano sent Friday, are seeking a probe into reports Arpaio has used skin color as a basis to search for illegal immigrants in Arizona. Exactly what skin color do illegals crossing the southern border tend to have, John? As the saying goes, isn’t...

PHOENIX (AP) -- Four members of Congress have asked the Justice Department to conduct a civil rights investigation into immigration and crime sweeps conducted by an Arizona sheriff's office. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Friday that his deputies didn't use racial profiling during raids that began last year in the Phoenix area. About half of the arrests from the sweeps were illegal immigrants.

PHOTO: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10555339 The community organization group ACORN is protesting a decision made by the self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" to keep illegal immigrants at tents that house prisoners, separate from the rest of the inmate population. ACORN has lambasted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's action, calling it a "blatant disregard for civil rights." Arpaio announced Wednesday that he plans to accompany about 200 inmates -- along with members of the media -- from a Phoenix area jail to Tent City on Wednesday afternoon. "Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County Sherriff's Department have routinely violated the civil rights of...

PHOENIX (AP) -- The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has announced plans to keep illegal immigrants separate from the rest of the inmate population at tents in Phoenix that house prisoners. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he plans to personally accompany about 200 inmates — along with members of the media — from an area jail to Tent City on Wednesday afternoon. "This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape," Arpaio said in a news release. "But this is a fence they won't want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock, literally," he said,...

"Smile, You’re Under Arrest" — that’s the name of a new reality TV show starring none other than Sheriff Joe Arpaio of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO). Yet Maricopa County citizens aren’t smiling as Arpaio’s tactics have wreaked a lot of havoc, and fought little crime. Arpaio has transformed his police department into an immigration-enforcement agency, gaining international notoriety in the process. Armed with a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a mandate to enforce immigration law, Arpaio has taken the pursuit of undocumented immigrants to “unconstitutional extremes

Sheriff Joe to make those in the county Jail/Tent City Jail pay $1.25 per-day for a county savings of more than $900,00. Now who says crime doesn't pay.

John McCain isn’t going to be getting the New York Times endorsement over Barack Obama. And we have a hunch that the Arizona Republic probably isn’t going to be touting our re-election campaigns either.And that’s OK, because it would seriously confuse our supporters were we to seek the Republic’s editorial endorsement, as candidates typically do.This is why we took the unusual step of politely and respectfully declining the paper’s recent offer to solicit its support by appearing before its editorial board with our opponents. After all, the Arizona Republic board has been one of the biggest voices against steps...

Tucson open-borders official gloats about effigy-beating By Michelle Malkin • July 16, 2008 12:45 PM [See Picture at link--Oyarsa] Tucscon residents remain up in arms over the unhinged open-borders mob, led by reconquistadora Pima County (AZ) public defender Isabel Garcia, who beat and tore apart an effigy of tough, anti-illegal immigration Sheriff Joe Arpaio at his recent book tour event. See the videos here in case you missed it yesterday. Garcia is now gloating about the incident–calling it “funny.” She has posted a bigotry card-playing response at her militant website, Derechos Humanos. Laugh line: “We stand for the principles of...

Unhinged in Arizona: Open-borders mob, led by public official, ravages Joe Arpaio effigy By Michelle Malkin • July 15, 2008 03:34 PM Scroll down for updates…Jon Justice has more… Reader Tim C. in Tucscon sent me an e-mail about some completely unhinged open-borders activists who mobbed a book event for Sheriff Joe Arpaio. A group of young pro-illegal alien protesters repeatedly beats an effigy of Arpaio as Isabel Garcia–local reconquistadora and an official from the Pima County legal defender’s office–eggs them on. She then parades around with the effigy’s head as onlookers cheer and hoist up the rest of the...

In case you missed it, Shaquille O’Neal received an honorary badge from the U.S. Marshals in September 2005, and was made a special deputy in 2006 by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. That’s four NBA titles, one college degree (which he completed in the middle of his NBA career) and two badges, all for the same guy who has already completed more than one man’s fair share of Icy Hot commercials. But Shaq, Shaq, Shaq, it’s time to give one back. It seems as though he was caught on tape rapping in a club somewhere, and his language was not...

Toughest sheriff in US vows no let up in immigration fight      He's been described as Hitler and a member of the Klu Klux Klan by Hispanic critics and immigrant rights groups, but Sheriff Joe Arpaio prefers to see himself as an equal opportunities advocate. "We lock everybody up," he says. Arpaio, the self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" has ruled his fifedom in Arizona's Maricopa County with a steely, zero-tolerance that has enraged human rights activists but delighted headline-writers the world over. Demonstrations and picket lines follow his sweeps of largely Hispanic neighborhoods. He's been criticized by mayors...

Since Arizona’s local law enforcement began enforcing illegal immigration laws and an employer sanctions law went into effect, illegal immigrants have been fleeing the state in large numbers. The effects have been far-ranging. Commuters are reporting fewer vehicles on the freeways, shortening their rush-hour commutes. What had become a serious transportation problem in Arizona is losing its urgency. English Learner Language (ELL) students started dropping out of school. This helped end a confrontation between the state legislature and a liberal federal judge who had ordered the state to spend more money on ELL classes. Fewer illegal immigrants are using hospital...

The mayor wants the FBI to investigate whether the local county sheriff has violated any civil rights laws with his recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants. The "saturation patrols" have drawn protests from civil rights and immigrant-rights advocates, but they have drawn support from backers of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and from people who believe the government hasn't done enough against illegal immigration. In an April 4 letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Mayor Phil Gordon asked the agency and the Justice Department's civil rights division to examine what he called discriminatory harassment and improper stops, searches, and...

(AP) — The Supreme Court turned down an appeal Monday from a county sheriff who objects to transporting jail inmates for elective abortions. An Arizona sheriff wanted the justices to allow him to enforce a jail policy that bars transporting inmates for abortions without a court order. Arizona courts said the policy violated the inmates' constitutional rights. A federal appeals court in Missouri recently issued a similar ruling in a case there. The justices did not comment on their decision to leave the Arizona ruling in place. The Arizona Court of Appeals called the Maricopa County policy an "exaggerated response"...

How the heck could we get this guy to run for President? SERIOUSLY! Maricopa County, Arizona was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe didn’t take over the county animal shelter, he started his own. The jail, which once housed inmates, was empty after the tent cities were built. Now the facility has become an animal shelter, housing 200 dogs and cats. The horses, which “do not fit in the cells,” are kept in the tents with the inmates. Sheriff Joe noted, “The women prisoners take care of the cats and...

The Daily Courier/Matt Hinshaw Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio talks during the Yavapai Republican Men’s Forum Monday afternoon at Hotel St. Michael in Prescott. Arpaio was the guest speaker at the forum. PRESCOTT - "I'm one politician who knows where the border is," commented Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio as he spoke at the Yavapai Republican Men's Forum at the Hotel St. Michael in Prescott Monday. Arpaio was here to talk about the new immigration law that went into effect on Jan. 1. "We have a new employer sanction law to address the illegal immigration problem," he said. "I am...

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - Eight illegal immigrants were arrested during a protest outside of a Phoenix furniture store that had hired sheriff's deputies to keep day laborers away. Protesters have been demonstrating for the past six Saturdays at Pruitt's furniture store in east Phoenix against the arrests of illegal immigrants in the area. Maricopa County sheriff's deputies had arrested 24 illegal immigrants in the area after stopping them for traffic violations. The eight people arrested yesterday on suspicion of violating immigration laws were the first illegal immigrants taken into custody during the actual protests. Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the protesters...

Police: Dog shows signs of rape It's a crime so disgusting that Sheriff Joe is offering a $2,000 reward to anyone who can help catch these sick criminals. Police say a year-old Russell Terrier was dropped off at a valley animal hospital where vets determined the dog had been raped. Witnesses have described to police who they saw going into and leaving the clinic around the time the dog was dropped off. Anyone with information about this case can call the Sheriff's Department. Note: Click on the MyFoxPhoenix.com link to watch the video news report of this story.

PHOENIX -- The legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona was arrested Saturday during a demonstration at a Phoenix store that has been a site of controversy over illegal immigrant day laborers. Capt. Paul Chagolla said Daniel Pochoda was arrested as activists demonstrated in front of Pruitt's Furniture and that Pochoda is accused of misdemeanor trespassing. The owners of Pruitt's have complained that their business is being harmed by day laborers' presence. Sheriff's deputies have responded with arrests, drawing protests from immigration rights activists. "I'm not their favorite guy," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "They've sued me. I...

In a rare move late Thursday, Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies arrested two leaders of the largest alternative newspaper chain in the nation, Villiage Voice Media, because of a story published earlier in the day by the company-owned Phoenix New Times. Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, the executive editor and CEO, respectively, of Village Voice Media, were arrested at their homes on suspicion of violating grand jury secrecy, said sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla. The two, who together started New Times in 1970, were the authors of Thursday’s cover story revealing that a special prosecutor, retained by the county attorney’s office,...

PHOENIX — A union for police officers broke with leaders of the Phoenix Police Department on Monday in calling for an end to an immigration policy that the union says makes streets in the nation’s fifth largest city more dangerous. The policy prevents police officers from asking federal immigration authorities for assistance in situations where illegal immigrants commit civil traffic violations.

The county sheriff said he won't disconnect a hot line he created for people to report information about illegal immigrants that has been decried as promoting ethnic profiling. ADVERTISEMENT Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio stressed Wednesday that deputies would investigate people only if authorities had probable cause.

PHOENIX - Latino leaders and faith-based organizations want Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to disconnect the hotline he created for people to report information about undocumented immigrants, saying it raises the chance of racial profiling. But Arpaio said Wednesday that he won't disconnect the hotline and stressed that deputies would investigate people only if authorities had probable cause. The hotline began last Friday and has received about 300 messages, which include tips about family and friends, employment, day laborers, drop houses and crank calls. Arpaio said officials are analyzing the tips and officials have not acted on any of the...

Inside America's toughest jail  Grim ... Tent City in ArizonaPictures: MARK PETERMAN       From HARRY MACADAM in ArizonaApril 28, 2007           HIGH above the Arizona desert, a pink neon sign flashes the word “vacancy” from a watch tower manned by armed guards.  Surrounded by 25ft barbed wire fences, this is the welcome offered by America’s toughest jail — Tent City in Phoenix.Inside, nearly 1,000 prisoners live in army surplus tents, baking in temperatures of 122°F (50°C) in summer and freezing during winter.No matter how many criminals are locked up here, the vacancy sign is never...

The rest of the AZ team is pretty good too!