and nothing is being done about it.
A bit of background:
Maricopa County, AZ has a hard-line sheriff whose name is Joe Arpaio. You may have heard a bit about him in the news ... he's the sheriff who has taken the immigration policy into his own hands - routinely targeting the large Latino population of his county for DWL (Driving While Latino). These traffic stops often result in rounding up "illegals" and placing them in his tent city (since there's not enough room in the jail for all of the people his deputies round up). He has been lauded and hailed by anti-immigration folk as "tough on crime". Many say that if someone is breaking the law by being in our country illegally, they deserve to be harassed and thrown into jail. Heck, the guy even has a new reality series of his very own!
How does he know that the people he rounds up are illegal? Well, he asks them for their citizenship papers, birth certificate, or Social Security cards, and you know how many of us actually carry those on us while we're driving to and from work and from the store. Many innocent people are being put in jail for days at a time, and heaven help anyone who opposes his reign of terror.
There's more to his madness...below the fold....
Lawsuit after lawsuit has been filed against Sheriff Arpaio, at a very high price to the Maricopa County taxpayers. The only regulatory body that can censure the Sheriff is the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors; however, almost as a whole, they bow to the whim of this Sheriff. During his tenure, crime has INcreased, more money is being spent, human and civil rights violations by the Sheriff's department has skyrocketed, and corruption is the name of the game. When the mayor of a small community (Guadalupe) comprised mainly of Latinos and Indians, opposed his methods, he managed to get her ousted from her seat and enjoined the Board to discontinue the Sheriff's office contract with the community she served, therefore leaving them with no police services. This community comprises about 1 square mile, but had been invaded by one hundred sheriff's deputies stopping cars for the smallest real or imagined infraction. Let the video speak for itself (For those who have problems with embedded video, I apologize in advance):
Recently, ACORN has been asking the Board to allow them to speak at the public meetings, where one women is on the roster at every meeting with her doggie talking about her doggie's latest antics. ACORN and others who oppose Sheriff Arpaio and his policies have not been allowed to speak, although some individuals that the Board is unaware are associated with this movement have been able to get their two minutes at the podium. Two members and two organizers were arrested during a peaceful, quiet sit-in when they refused to leave until they had been placed on the roster. Four days later, when some members HAD been put on the roster for that day, two of the same organizers and two others were arrested for applauding a member's comments...at a PUBLIC forum...the same forum where months earlier, a group in support of Sheriff Arpaio had NOTHING happen to them when they applauded and even catcalled their support. Here we go with another video:
ONE (only ONE) member of the Board criticized the actions of the Sheriff's deputies in arresting these citizens:
What kind of world are we living in where the United States, the bastion of free speech and the home of peaceful protest, allows this type of behavior by ANY law enforcement agency?
WHY isn't mainstream media covering the human rights abuses of this sheriff? I write this diary as a clarion call for all Kossacks, especially Arizonians who are in this constituency, to put the brakes on. The mayor of Phoenix has condemned Sheriff Arpaio and his tactics, but the Governor of the state continues to support his actions. This cannot be allowed to continue. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and should not exist in a democratic society. If anyone can add to this diary - suggestions on what can be done, anecdotes about their own experiences in this county, anything that we can rally the larger public to do...this is a sad, pathetic situation that is criminalizing people based on their ethnic background. This was supposed to end with Jim Crow laws; how is it still happening in 2009?