Sheriff Joe Arpaio is a hated man. Advocates of illegal immigration can’t stand the man, referring to him as Hitler or a member of the KKK. But with an approval rating of 80 to 90 percent, the citizens of Maracopa County love the man:
The opprobrium heaped in Arpaio’s direction is water off a duck’s back: after 16 years in office, the veteran lawman is showing no signs of mellowing.
“It just makes me more vigilant and go out more,” Arpaio told AFP in an interview. “They ought to shut their mouth, let the system take its course, and if they don’t like the laws, go out and get them changed.
“But don’t try to intimidate me to stop enforcing the laws. It will never happen … That’s how I take care of business.”
During nearly two decades, Arpaio has garnered world-wide publicity for creating a tent city in the Arizona desert to house county jail inmates, sending out men and women in chain gangs to pick up trash, and clothing inmates in striped suits and pink underwear.
Sheriff Joe started cracking down on illegal immigration about 18 months ago. He says he has nothing against illegal immigrants personally, but:
“The minute you crossed the border, you violated the law,” Arpaio said. “There’s no doubt that illegals are involved in drug trafficking and other crimes. Many of them, maybe the majority, come here to work.
“Still, it’s illegal to come here. I’m going to continue to enforce the law. I took an oath of office. I’m the bad guy. That’s okay. It’s alright with me.”
Arpaio’s last sweep sent 200 deputies, helicopters, and an armored car into a one square-mile Latino-dominated town, pulling over anyone with a cracked tail-light or a broken windshield.
He rejects claims that his department is targeting anyone with brown skin.
“We don’t racial profile,” he said. “We lock everybody up. I’m an equal opportunity guy.”
If the federal government had a quarter of the heart concerning this issue that Sheriff Joe has in his little toe, I don’t think we would be waiting until 2011 for the border fence to be finished. America could use a few more men like Joe Arpaio.
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