I drove through Maricopa County, Arizona, a few days ago and noticed a few things. The roads had no litter, and people were driving at exactly the speed limit. That is not always the case in a lot of the country.
National Review Online posted an article today by Hans A. von Spakovsky about the ongoing harrassment of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio by the Justice Department. Sheriff Arpaio is a no-nonsense kind of guy that gets the job done (and done well). The civil libertarians hate him because he puts criminals to work cleaning up highways and generally makes jail someplace that criminals don't want to be. I'm not sure if he changes their criminal ways, but I suspect that many of them decide to go elsewhere to do mischief in the future.
According to the article at National Review:
"The Department's Civil Rights Division is investigating how Arpaio, the Maricopa County sheriff, treats illegal immigrants when he arrests them. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is auditing his participation in a federal program -- commonly referred to by its statutory citation, "287(g)" -- that allows local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws. Arpaio, whose office is the largest participant in the DHS program, has been accused of improperly launching "crime sweeps in areas around Phoenix with high concentrations of Hispanics" as well as "separating" illegal immigrants from other inmates that he has arrested."
In February, Representatives John Conyers, Zoe Lofgren, Jerrold Nadler, and Bobby Scott (all Democrats) demanded that the Department of Justice investigate Sheriff Arpaio for "discriminatory" police practices toward illegal aliens (they had no evidence of any problem, and previous investigations had found no evidence of misconduct).
The article at National Review is too long to actually summarize here, but I strongly suggest you follow the above link and read it. Sheriff Arpaio is doing his job very well, and unfortunately will not get a fair hearing. His enforcement of immigration laws is contrary to the policies of this administration, and we have seen that this administration does not treat those who disagree with them in either deed or idea kindly. It is a shame that he is being attacked--he is doing a good job, and the results of his efforts are obvious as you drive through Maricopa County.
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