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Long-Time Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Faces Tough Re-election Bid

Long-Time Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Faces Tough Re-election Bid

By David Schwartz

PHOENIX (Reuters) – Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio has long battled controversy over his tough stance on illegal immigration but may now face his toughest test as he seeks a seventh term as sheriff of the state’s most populous county.

Twenty four years after he was first elected sheriff of Maricopa County, which surrounds Phoenix, Arpaio goes to voters facing the possibility of criminal sanctions. Last week, a federal judge recommended that he and three others be prosecuted for contempt of court for failing to comply with an order in a racial profiling case.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge him with contempt, and Arpaio, 84, is widely expected to win at the primary level on August 30. But the man who styles himself as “America’s toughest sheriff” could be in for a close race in the November general election.

“If I didn’t care, I would say ‘Good,” and would let someone else take over,” Arpaio, a Republican, said in an interview with Reuters. “That’s not how I am.”

A tireless campaigner against illegal immigration, Arpaio drew national attention in 1993 for setting up a tent city outside the Maricopa County Jail, where inmates were housed even in the desert heat. He is also known for making prisoners wear pink underwear.

Arpaio’s main competition in Tuesday’s primary on the Republican side is from Dan Saban, a former police chief of Buckeye, Arizona who has lost to him twice before.

“Right now, we have an organization built around one person and his image and it’s quite disturbing,” said Saban, 60. “I’m compelled as a citizen to offer the voters another choice.”

By the next fiscal year, county taxpayers are projected to have spent $54 million on the on-going federal racial profiling case.

If Arpaio beats Saban on Tuesday, he will go up against Democrat Paul Penzone, a former Phoenix police officer who narrowly lost to Arpaio in 2012.

Penzone says the public is fed up with what he called Arpaio’s antics.

“They are just tired of the nonsense,” said Penzone, 49. “They are embracing the opportunity to move forward with a new, innovative and professional law enforcement approach.”

But Arpaio predicts he will win – as he always has.

“Thanks to the voters and the public, I have always survived and I expect I will now.”

(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Andrew Hay)

Photo: Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio announces newly launched program aimed at providing security around schools in Anthem, Arizona, U.S. January 9, 2013. REUTERS/Laura Segall/File Photo

Judge Rejects Suit By Arizona Sheriff Challenging Obama On Immigration

Judge Rejects Suit By Arizona Sheriff Challenging Obama On Immigration

By Javier Panzar, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

A federal judge rejected a lawsuit by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio seeking to overturn President Barack Obama’s executive action to spare up to 5 million immigrants without documentation from being deported.

The Arizona sheriff argued in the suit that the new policy would place a burden on law enforcement agencies by encouraging more people to enter the United States where they will commit crimes.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington said Arpaio lacked standing to bring forward a suit because his argument was overly broad and did not show he or his department have suffered a direct injury as a result of the policy.

“The role of the Judiciary is to resolve cases and controversies properly brought by parties with a concrete and particularized injury — not to engage in policymaking better left to the political branches,” Howell wrote in a ruling Tuesday. “The plaintiff’s case raises important questions regarding the impact of illegal immigration on this Nation, but the questions amount to generalized grievances which are not proper for the Judiciary to address.”

The sheriff has filed a notice of appeal saying that he will pursue the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Howell said Arpaio did not show that Obama’s decision to defer the deportation of immigrants has led or will lead to increased criminal activity.

She also criticized Arpaio’s argument that the new policy would act as a “magnet” for new immigrants because the deferred action program applies only to immigrants residing in the country before 2010, and does not affect new immigrants who enter the country illegally.

Howell noted that the executive branch has used deferred action as a tool in immigration policy for more than 20 years.

“Judge Howell’s decision today confirms what the Department of Justice and scholars throughout the country have been saying all along: the president’s executive actions on immigration are lawful,” said Deputy White House press secretary Eric Schultz in a statement. “The Supreme Court and Congress have made clear that federal officials can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws, and the actions announced by the president are consistent with those taken by administrations of both parties for the last half century.”

Arpaio has been one of the most vocal proponents of Arizona’s tough stance on immigration. A federal judge found in 2013 that his office had violated the constitutional rights of Latinos during traffic stops and immigration raids.

The president’s action has also been challenged by a coalition of 17 states led by Texas. A court hearing on that suit is scheduled for Jan.9 in Brownsville, Texas.

Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sues To Halt Obama’s Action On Immigrants

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Sues To Halt Obama’s Action On Immigrants

By Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., sought on Monday to overturn President Barack Obama’s executive action protecting up to 5 million immigrants without documentation from being deported.

Arpaio and his attorney, Larry Klayman, argued in front of U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington. The suit was filed last month.

In their suit, Klayman and Arpaio contend the administration’s policy change to defer deportation added to the burden of law enforcement, especially in a border state like Arizona. They allege the changes will allow more people to enter the United States where they will commit crimes.

“President Obama and others recite that the immigration system of the United States is broken,” Klayman wrote in a court filing. “It is unmistakable that the only thing that is broken about the nation’s immigration laws is that the defendants are determined to break those laws.”

Klayman is a conservative who has previously alleged that Obama falsely claimed U.S. citizenship, a stand that was untrue. Arpaio has long called for more border enforcement to prevent illegal immigration.

Under the Obama plan, the pool of immigrants who will be protected from deportation would be expanded. The largest added group are parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the country since Jan. 1, 2010, and they can request employment authorization and deferred deportation.

Federal officials can still prioritize the removal of those who represent a threat to security.

The Justice Department has argued that Arpaio’s theory of added danger is misguided. “This theory is speculative and unsubstantiated,” the Justice Department argued in its court papers.

According to media reports from the courtroom, Howell questioned Arpaio’s claims. The jurist said that programs such as those Obama announced last month have been around since the 1970s, according to Bloomberg News.

The president’s action has also been challenged by a coalition of 17 states led by Texas. A court hearing on that suit is scheduled for Jan. 9 in Brownsville, Texas.

Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr