During his appearance on the glen beck show,
The sheriff openly admitted or at least described,
racial profiling roundups 'in the course of enforcing the law".
He posed a scenario where police come across,
"someone scared, look like they come form another country, or don't speak english"
which then allows the police officer to detain or transfer to ICE.
Joe Arpaio on Mexican Migrants: "They're All Dirty" - Phoenix News - Feathered Bastard
The Vigilante: GQ Features on men.style.com
"Why'd he have to blister me?" Arpaio mutters. "You know what it is? It's this civil rights, all that crap."
I ask how his wife of 52 years, Ava, feels about the work he does, and the
public ridicule he endures. "I gotta give her a lot of credit," he says.
"If she
was nagging me to come home at six every day, I wouldn't be able to be
here doing this work. So the people have to give her some credit for not
nagging me."
But mostly it's about immigration, which he warns "will speed and guarantee
the reconquista of these lands, returning them to Mexico."
But, back inside his office, Arpaio complains that to speak only of securing
the border, as many of the television pundits do, is "a cop-out." "It's always,
We have to secure our borders first, then we'll talk about illegal immigration,"
he says. "What about those ten million that are already here? The border
doesn't do any good for them. But we don't wanna talk about that."
I mention recent reports that the Obama Justice Department—in response to
complaints that the crime suppression sweeps amount to nothing more than
racial profiling—has begun investigating his methods. "I will continue to do it,"
he says. "I'm not gonna be intimidated by the new administration or by
mayors here or by any other politician trying to intimidate me, including the
news media. So I will do my job, I will not surrender. If they don't like what
I'm doing, change the law. I'm just enforcing the law."
Lisa alerts us that it's time to leave, as the sheriff has a date with the
Biltmore Ladies Lunch Group, one of the nominally civic organizations he
entertains each week. Arpaio puts on his blazer and we are joined by his two
bodyguards, who wear matching crewcuts and polo shirts. Driving through
downtown Phoenix, Arpaio tells me how successful his enforcement efforts
have been. "I feel bad that they're afraid of me, but it shows that what we're
doing is working," he says. "If they're afraid of the sheriff, then they should
get out of town and go back to their home country. A lot of people are
leaving town already."
"My daughter has adopted children of various ethnicities," he says in his
defense. "I got a black, a Mexican with down syndrome even. And yet I'm the
racist, I'm the fascist, I'm the Hitler!"
The ladies shake their heads sympathetically. "Why do they call him that?"
one whispers.
Suddenly, he spots a pretty, young, Hispanic-looking waitress weaving
between tables. "I shouldn't ask you this," he says, grinning
mischievously, "but." The waitress freezes, and the ladies all turn to face her,
smiling as her face drains of its color. "Hey, how are ya? Where are you from
originally?"
"Uh, Georgia. Then Florida," she responds, a tray of empty coffee cups
shaking in her hand.
"Florida!" Arpaio exclaims. "Now, I hope I didn't violate anything by asking you
where you're from, because that's profiling!"
The waitress looks at him blankly as the ladies laugh.
"Go around to the businesses and see who's servicing you these days," he
continues, waving his hand to dismiss her. "Go look at McDonald's. You'll see
different types of people working now: white teenagers. Let the illegals go
back home and let the American citizens do these jobs."
Things weren't always this way. "They used to stop them from coming across
the border," Ava (wife) remembers. "I don't think they were coming in droves like
they do now, where they come in on these trucks. They get dropped off in
drop houses, and then they get executed or killed by the people who
brought 'em because they can't pay 'em! Well, that's not right. So, it all leads
to bad things if they don't come over the right way."
"My wife has a point about them coming over," Joe says. "All these people
that come over, they could come with disease. There's no control, no health
checks or anything. They check fruits and vegetables, how come they don't
check people? No one talks about that! They're all dirty. I sent out 200
inmates into the desert, they picked up 18 tons of garbage that they bring
in—the baby diapers and all that. Where's everybody who wants to preserve
the desert?"
"Where's your green people, huh?" Ava asks.
I suggest that immigration reform would help solve these problems.
"So is that gonna stop the flow?" Joe says. "They're still gonna cross the border illegally."
"I like Mexican people," Ava tells me. "I don't think anything's wrong with
them. It's fine if they're here legally. I never really felt prejudiced toward 'em
at all. And I lived in Mexico, too. But I was there legally! I was there legally
for sure."
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