USA Today on Saturday’s March: Arpaio’s Arizona is ‘ground zero’ of immigration fight

America's Voice Blog

Posted 01/15/10 at 08:12am

USA Today on Saturday’s March: Arpaio’s Arizona is ‘ground zero’ of immigration fight

USA Today reports that Arizona has become 'ground zero' of our nation's immigration fight, largely on account of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial tactics and several anti-immigrant measures that have made their way into law there:

When activists from around the country rally for immigrants' rights Saturday, it's no coincidence that they'll converge here.

Arizona is the flash point of the immigration debate, a place where high levels of illegal immigration have led to state and local restrictions, most recently a law that requires government workers to report illegal immigrants seeking public benefits.

Perhaps the most visible figure in Arizona's immigration politics is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He has won praise and condemnation for having deputies swarm neighborhoods, stopping people in search of criminals and illegal immigrants.

The article continues by citing the Justice Department investigation into Arpaio's tactics (but fails to mention that Sheriff Joe is also being investigated by the FBI and summoned before a Grand Jury right now, too...):

His department is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegations of racial profiling and discrimination based on national origin.

Arpaio says that won't stop him. "I'm not going to ignore the laws because of pressure from Washington or demonstrators or politicians," he says.

Well, Joe may be ignoring the critics, but they aren't ignoring Joe.

Detective Alix Olson of the Madison Police Department in Wisconsin writes:

In my 29-year career as a police officer and detective with the Madison Police Department, in Madison, Wisconsin, I have witnessed and experienced many instances of hatred, violence and racism. In most cases, those negative things were not initiated by law enforcement; sometimes, unfortunately, they were. The 95% of us who sincerely strive to “serve and protect” are tarnished by the 5% of us who intentionally “disserve and destroy.” Nowhere is this more apparent in current American law enforcement than in Maricopa County, Arizona, where Sheriff Joe Arpaio has taken the law into his own hands, at the expense of the Constitution, professional ethics, and proper police conduct.

As USA Today mentions, thousands of Arpaio critics are heading to Phoenix tomorrow to stand strong against Arpaio's abuse of power-- as well as to call for long-overdue federal action on immigration.

ManEegee of Latino Politico blogs about Saturday's protest:

Join thousands of human rights activists as we gather in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday, January 16th at 9AM. There will be a march from Falcon Park to the downtown complex that serves as headquarters for the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Full information on the event can be found at the Puente AZ website. There is also a Facebook page devoted to the event.

Leading the march will be UFW matron Dolores Huerta, Rage Against the Machine's Zack de la Rocha, and internationally-famed singer Linda Ronstadt. There will also be a concert at the end of the march featuring Little Joe y La Familia.

This will be the second march I've attended to protest the human rights abuses of Sheriff Joe, who is under several federal investigations for racial profiling and harassment of political foes in Maricopa County. [...]

If you can't attend the march, please consider donating toward water bottles for the participants via the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

Please do consider donating water for the march; it's going to be a five mile trek.

Our very own Adam Luna will be tweeting live from Phoenix on Saturday, so be sure to follow us on twitter to hear the latest.