Commentary: Arizona Sheriff Embodies the Worst in Us All

This started out as a small column for the off-topic column, but after some reflection I realized I needed to make a broader point here.  Illegal immigration is far more than just another flash point issue that divides one side from another.  It is a tragic situation that really has tragedy for all involved.

The average American is caught up in this struggle and is, I think, genuinely conflicted – most wanting a way for those who wish to come to this country to work and play by the rules to do so, but most frowning upon the excesses of the current system.

Some see Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio as a hero, standing up and holding the line against the influx of illegal immigration.

But others have criticized “America’s Sheriff” for trampling the rights of many, while playing to the cameras.  To me, Sheriff Arpaio is nothing short of another fascist monster – and if I don’t mince words it is because he feeds on the hatred and frustration of others to do truly monstrous things.

This week, the Justice Department joined the latter group, issuing a strongly-worded critique that accused the sheriff of practicing “unconstitutional policing” by unfairly targeting Latinos for detention and arrest and retaliating against those who complain.

The inquiry began in June of 2008, lasted more than three years, and ended with a 22-page report that finds “reasonable cause to believe that MCSO (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office) engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutionally policing,” including that the command staff, supervisory staff and deputies engage “in racial profiling of Latinos; unlawfully stops, detains, and arrest Latinos; and unlawfully retaliates against individuals who complain about or criticize MCSO’s polices or practices.”

The report finds, “The absence of clear policies and procedures to ensure effective and constitutional policing, along with the deviations from widely accepted policing and correctional practices, and the failure to implement meaningful oversight and accountability structures, have contributed to a chronic culture of disregard for basic legal and constitutional obligations.”

They add, “In addition to the formal findings noted above, we have identified three additional areas of serious concern that, while not warranting a formal pattern or practice finding at this time, require further investigation.”

These include the following: “First, our investigation revealed a number of troubling incidents involving MCSO deputies using excessive force against Latinos. Second, we observed that MCSO has implemented its immigration enforcement program in a way that has created a ‘wall of distrust’ between MCSO officers and Maricopa County’s Latino residents – a wall of distrust that has significantly compromised MCSO’s ability to provide police protection to Maricopa County’s Latino residents. Third, we have expanded our investigation to encompass a review of serious allegations that MCSO failed to investigate a large number of sex crimes.”

“We find a pervasive culture of discriminatory bias against Latinos at MCSO that reaches the highest levels of the agency, supervisors of MCSO’s police operations,” they add.

Not only that, but the department interfered with the inquiry, prompting the government to file a lawsuit that compelled the sheriff and his deputies to cooperate.

The sheriff, who is 79, brushed off criticism as politically motivated.

He was particularly unhappy that, as a result of the findings of discrimination, the federal government would no longer allow sheriff’s deputies to check the immigration status of inmates in their custody.

“This is a sad day for America as a whole,” Sheriff Arpaio said.  “We are proud of the work we have done to fight illegal immigration.”

The LA Times, I think, strikes the correct tone in their editorial this morning.

They write: “The findings are hardly news to Latinos in that state, who were up to nine times more likely to be pulled over by deputies while driving than non-Latinos.”

“The federal probe, first launched under President George W. Bush, concluded that Arpaio and his deputies illegally arrested and jailed Latinos and initiated immigration sweeps in response to complaints that simply referred to people with ‘dark skin’ but made no mention of an actual crime,” the LA Times continues.

Indeed, in their zeal to prosecute and even persecute immigrants, “the sheriff’s office may have failed to properly investigate 432 cases of sexual assault and child molestation.”

Writes the LA Times, “It’s a damning report, and the behavior it describes is a shameful throwback to a less enlightened era.”

“And yet Arpaio’s overzealous enforcement of immigration law is exactly what has attracted the attention of Republican presidential candidates, several of whom sought his endorsement earlier this year,” the Times continues.

The Republicans wonder why Hispanics have abandoned them in recent elections.

The Times notes, “Arpaio ultimately threw his endorsement to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who rushed to the lawman’s defense on Friday, suggesting that Arpaio was a victim of an Obama administration witch hunt.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only was the investigation launched under President Bush, but the report itself is quite shocking.

The LA Times concludes, “Arpaio is hardly the victim of a conspiracy.”  They note: “An expert hired by the department said this case involves ‘the most egregious racial profiling in the United States’ that he has ever seen in the course of his work, according to the report.”

The Times continues, “On Arpaio’s watch, deputies went unchecked. One officer used his patrol car to intentionally hit and drag a Latino man and then instructed other deputies to ‘leave him there,’ investigators said. A Latino motorist was incarcerated for 13 days for failing to use his turn signal.”

The bottom line, according to the LA Times, is this: “We understand that Americans are frustrated by an immigration system that fails everyone. But Arpaio’s supporters should think hard about what his true legacy will be. He can’t be America’s sheriff if he can’t play by the rules.”

This is exactly correct.  The system fails everyone.  We need to fix it.  We need to, as I have stated many times, create a way for those who wish to come to this nation to work and prosper to be able do so.

We need to take the profit out of the human and drug smuggling operations that are plaguing not only our border states, but also northern Mexico, with atrocious crimes, and we cannot do that unless we do real and meaningful reform.

The Joe Arpaio’s of the world are punishing the wrong people.  They are punishing immigrants who came here for a better life, as all of our forefathers did.

We can draw artificial lines on legality and immigration laws and we can watch in vain as boats like the Missouri in the Holocaust are diverted with its passengers ultimately dying in concentration camps.

In the end, we still have to figure out our problems, but we know that monsters like Sheriff Arpaio do not have solutions that they can offer us, only hatred and anger.  And in the end, those are simply empty vessels passing in the night.

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