Free Republic

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!

The Governor who had an iron spine by taking on the problems of the Big Dig without flinching, picks up this endorsement from the very popular and forceful ani-illegal immigration advocate Sherrif Joe Arpaio. Now, I wonder why Senator Lettuce, er.. McCain, didn't get this endorsement?

With precious little entertainment inside Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails, radio KJOE should be a big hit with the Sheriff’s 10,000 inmates when it makes its programming debut on Monday February 5, 2007, at twelve noon, from the basement studio in Fourth Avenue Jail. Sheriff Arpaio, along with the famous radio team of Tim and Willy from KNIX radio, will welcome inmates to the premiere show on KJOE radio – which Arpaio says will educate, inform and entertain the men and women incarcerated in the jails.“For years now, I’ve taken away most of their TV viewing, all movie rentals and...

PHOENIX — An Arizona sheriff known for his tough jail policies is offering basic English classes to inmates who don't speak the language. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the language barrier has caused problems for his jail officers and even prompted complaints from English-speaking prisoners. "They are in the United States, and they should start speaking English," said Arpaio, who is known for making inmates wear pink underwear and take part in old-style chain gangs in striped uniforms. Arpaio said the inmates are so eager to learn English that there's a waiting list for the two-week courses, which began...

Citizens group confronts sheriff on immigrants 'Copwatch' calls for sheriff to release immigrants from jail Friday, June 16, 2006 Members of a citizens group known as Copwatch protested outside Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office Friday morning. They held signs asking Arpaio to release illegal immigrants that his deputies and volunteer posse members have arrested. The arrests came under a state law making it illegal to conspire to smuggle humans into Arizona, or to conspire to be smuggled. Arpaio came down from his 19th floor office in the Wells Fargo Building to let the members of Copwatch present their complaints in person....

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants 11 more large tents to house an influx of illegal immigrants. Tent City One is outside the nearby Estrella Jail in southwest Phoenix. There are 2,000 inmates in the two tent facilities and about 10,000 inmates in all of the county's jails. In August, state legislators passed an anti-human smuggling statute giving prosecutors a tool to go after smugglers. County Attorney Andrew Thomas later issued an opinion saying illegal immigrants suspected of paying coyotes could be prosecuted as conspirators. "The law is clear and I intend to enforce it," Arpaio said. "But we're going...

2,000 inmates already are in two tent facilities PHOENIX - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio wants 11 more large tents to house an influx of illegal immigrants. --

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INDICTMENTS UPHELDTHOMAS’ INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES VALID In a nine-page legal opinion which analyzed Arizona and federal case law and statutes, Superior Court Judge Thomas O’Toole ruled that illegal immigrants who conspire with human smugglers (coyotes) to be transported into Arizona can be prosecuted for the criminal offense of conspiracy, a class 4 felony. In addition, Judge O’Toole dismissed defense attorneys’ claims that Arizona’s anti-smuggling statute could not be enforced because the federal government had preempted the field of immigration. The Courts’ extensive analysis specifically denied claims that the court did not have jurisdiction to consider the issues presented;...

Sheriff Joe Arpaio on the Howie Carr show...

GILA BEND, Ariz. – Four Mexican men sit in the dirt with their wrists bound, shoulders hunched and eyes lowered to avoid the glare of the rising sun. The immigrants had been on their way to build a dairy farm in this town about an hour southwest of Phoenix. But after a traffic stop for crossing the center line and a faulty brake light, members of a sheriff's task force targeting human and drug smugglers found they were not U.S. citizens. Now they were bound for federal custody. Beginning Wednesday, more illegal immigrants coming through Maricopa County could meet the...

PHOENIX Some 47 undocumented immigrants charged with conspiracy to commit human smuggling are seeking to have the charges tossed out. Attorneys argue a person can't smuggle himself into the country and therefore can't be charged with conspiracy. A Los Angeles attorney brought into the case by the Mexican Consul General's Office in Phoenix will file another motion Friday to dismiss the charges. Defense attorneys claim Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is violating state and federal law and using the conspiracy charges to control illegal immigration, which is the federal government's job. Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have redoubled efforts to...

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced that approximately 100 volunteer posse and Sheriff's Deputies will soon begin randomly patrolling the desert areas and main roadways in southwest Maricopa County as a part of an operation to curb the flow of illegal immigrants entering the county. Arpaio made the announced just as 11 more illegal immigrants were being booked in jail after a Ford Windstar with California plates and 16 people packed inside was stopped by a Sheriff's deputy early Tuesday morning on a traffic violation near Gila Bend. Despite the growing controversy about illegal aliens nationwide, the Maricopa County Sheriff's...

Do you remember when Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin accused our troops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of torturing terrorist prisoners by subjecting them to loud rock music and to extreme temperatures? He demanded that the base be closed and the prisoners sent elsewhere. He was joined by goofy Teddy Kennedy in his demands.Just several weeks ago, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore) and Sen. Ben. Nelson (D-Neb) along with Republican senators Jim Bunning and Michael D. Crapo checked out the place. It turned out to be Club Gitmo. The prisoners are well treated and fed better than they would be at home.However,...

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER. THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY: Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona) who created the "tent city jail": He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them. He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies. He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects. Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination. He...

Convicts were forced to march to a new top-security jail — wearing just pink underpants and flip-flops to deter escape bids. Prison bosses reckoned the 700 hardmen would be too embarrassed to go on the run in gay-style garb. Muscle-bound, tattooed thugs were linked with pink handcuffs for the two-mile hike. And when they reached the new clink in Phoenix, Arizona, one con had to cut a pink ribbon to open it. Tough Sheriff Joe Arpaio said: “I put them on the street so everybody could see them. They can see this is what happens to people who break the...

PHOENIX - Many police officials along the U.S.-Mexican border say they are fed up with the number of illegal aliens populating American prisons, many of them incarcerated for violent crimes such as murder, rape and robbery.Almost one in six inmates in Arizona, for example, is a Mexican citizen."It is a phenomenon that law enforcement recognizes as a major problem," said one undercover detective, who specializes in street gangs and goes by the name "Paco.""We have to put drug users and violaters in there, babysit them, and now we have to babysit illegal aliens," said Maricopa County, Ariz. Sheriff Joe Arpaio,...

A British stockbroker in jail in the United States has been lifting the lid on a controversial prison regime through a compelling weblog. He forces inmates to wear pink underpants, puts women on chain gangs and brags that it costs more to feed the guard dogs than the prisoners he oversees. No surprise then that sheriff Joe Arpaio is often called America's "toughest sheriff". But while his hardline tactics have won him plenty of admirers among the voting public of Maricopa county, Arizona, they have outraged human rights campaigners. Now, as sheriff Arpaio seeks re-election to his job, few would...

<p>About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.</p> <p>On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before. Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their pink socks.</p>