Free Republic

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...

<p>PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio plans the latest in a series of "crime suppression" sweeps on Friday in a rural area west of Phoenix.</p> <p>An estimated 200 deputies and posse volunteers will fan out near Interstate 10 and Miller Road near the town of Buckeye.</p>

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says scrutiny of racial and ethnic profiling by incoming President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will not deter his get-tough approach to illegal immigration. “I’m not stopping,” said Arpaio. The Republican sheriff said he plans to continue crime sweeps and raids aimed at illegal immigrants and businesses that employ them. The Obama administration and Holder are expected to increase the focus on racial and ethnic profiling by police. Critics of Arpaio’s immigration enforcement argue the sheriff’s office targets Hispanics and such actions take away from more serious investigations. Arpaio said his immigration...

Traditional media outlets are dying and savvy conservative politicians have taken to ignoring them -- or hastening their demise. Instead of subjecting themselves to heavy-handed interviews and biased coverage, Republicans are finding other ways to reach the public with their campaign messages. It's an approach the McCain-Palin ticket may have adopted too late. McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis asked, "Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media that have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and her children?" In McCain's Arizona, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently...

The man who calls himself "America's Toughest Sheriff," Joe Arpaio, has a dire prognostication for those hoping for a crackdown on illegal immigration. Hear what he tells Newsmax correspondent Ashley Martella

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...

Sheriffs in Phoenix, Ariz., have launched an aggressive crackdown on illegal aliens as part of a growing movement by local officials to help prevent illegal immigration. Maricopa County sheriffs have instituted a zero tolerance policy — knocking on doors and arresting those suspected of living in the country illegally. Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the law is clear cut. “Our policy is if we come across any illegal ... you are arrested. You don’t get a ticket. You get to appear before a judge later on.” In the wake of two unsuccessful attempts at passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill in...

Frustrated by a steady flow of illegal Mexican immigrants into Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has decided to take matters into his own hands. He has drawn support and opposition in equal measure for his treatment of prisoners, which includes re-introducing chain gangs and making prisoners wear pink underwear. Now he's under fire for dispatching teams of sheriff's deputies into Hispanic communities where they stop people and arrest anyone who cannot prove he or she is a legal U.S. resident. It has brought an onslaught of criticism from Hispanic activists, local lawmakers and the Phoenix mayor, who call his crackdown on...

Valley gun-maker Frank DeSomma donated about $10,000 worth of guns and equipment to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office earlier this year, but he wanted it to be a secret. Governor takes Arpaios funds for task force County OKs $1M for illegal-immigrant sweeps “I wanted to give this because I appreciate the organization,” DeSomma said. “But I wanted to keep it quiet.” But in Maricopa County, DeSomma soon learned, donations cannot be kept quiet. They are even discussed in public meetings because of specific rules to keep such gifts above board. DeSomma, who owns Patriot Ordnance Factory in Glendale, was among...

GUADALUPE, Ariz. (AP) - The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has been making forays into Phoenix and nearby Guadalupe and sweeping up illegal immigrants, drawing howls of protest from the cities' mayors and other community leaders. While Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has legal authority to enforce the law in cities within his county, politicians and activists are accusing him of grandstanding and, worse, racial profiling. A total of 150 people—73 of them illegal immigrants—were arrested by Arpaio's deputies in the raids on heavily Hispanic sections in late March and early April. "I was upset. We did not request them...

GUADALUPE, Ariz. -- An illegal immigrant has been arrested on suspicion of raping and kidnapping a 15-year-old girl at her Guadalupe home, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies said.The MCSO Special Victims Unit arrested Jose Dolores Montoya Sanchez, 24.Sanchez was booked into the Maricopa County jail late Wednesday on one count of sexual assault, one count of kidnapping and two counts sexual abuse.Sheriff's deputies said they began investigating the case when the victim disclosed that Sanchez sexually assaulted her at a Guadalupe home. The 15-year-old was immediately taken to a local hospital for medical treatment, MCSO said. A forensic evaluation confirmed an...

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...

PHOENIX -- Hispanic leaders are calling for an immediate end to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's illegal immigrants' patrols, claiming they are dividing the community and could lead to violence. "As a community, we see him going out setting up his troops and stopping people at random -- racial profiling," said Hector Yturralde, president of We Are America. "After they find out they can't speak English or they have no identification, then they stop them for immigration." Yturralde added, "He is causing a division within this community that is not good. And that is not his job." He said the sheriff is...

On Friday evening illegal aliens and their supporters were out in force, protesting Sheriff Arpaio and his posse in Phoenix. They were countered by a STRONG group of Phoenix patriots, including Minutemen, some of them armed. They, of course, were well within their rights, AZ having an open carry law. As time went by, tempers flared, the event became HEATED, and some 30 got arrested from the "immigrant rights" group, and one American patriot, who decided to go to the event with a loaded shotgun ...

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...

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.

A group has pledged to spend about $1,000 to gather hundreds of thousands of signatures in an effort to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas. The Arizonans for the U.S. Constitution and Recall of Joe Arpaio, filed paperwork Oct. 29 to recall the county's top law enforcement officials, according to county records. According the documents, the group has pledged to spend less than $500 on each of the two recalls - a small amount money considering size of the task. The organization will have to collect 283,300 valid signatures from registered voters in Maricopa County...

PHOENIX — Deputies searching the home of rapper DMX during an investigation into claims of animal cruelty found about a half-pound of suspected illegal narcotics, the Maricopa County sheriff said Saturday. No charges have been filed or arrests made. Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the investigation into alleged animal cruelty was ongoing, and the suspected drugs were being tested to confirm their content. Friday's search was prompted by reports that pit bulls kept by the rapper at the home in rural north Phoenix were not being given enough food or water. A dozen pit bulls were seized, the bodies of three...

A large tent will house up to 32 inmates outside the Cameron County Jail. A tent city jail built at the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito failed an inspection Thursday morning. City of Brownsville building inspectors in conjunction with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards did not allow the outdoor jail to open. Evaristo Gamez, director of the city’s Building Inspection Department, and Adan Muñoz, Texas Commission on Jail Standards’ executive director, told Sheriff Omar Lucio that before the tent city can open a flexible conduit must cover an exposed electrical wire that runs along the top of the tent...

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....