GILA BEND, Ariz. — One Arizona county sheriff has created a 250-strong posse to hunt down those who cross the border illegally.

“It’s a felony; I am enforcing a new law,” Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio told FOX News. “I’m the elected sheriff and I’m going to do what I feel is right regardless of the controversy.”

Arpaio, the sheriff for Arizona's most populous county, is taking advantage of a new state law that allows charging undocumented immigrants with conspiracy to smuggle themselves into the United States. The anti-human-smuggling statute that took effect in Arizona in August and gave prosecutors a tool to go after "coyotes," or smugglers, who traffic in undocumented immigrants.

The group was comprised of existing Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and members of the department's 3,000-member posse reserve of trained volunteers.

The posse was patrolling the area here for illegal immigrants who pay smugglers to cross through Arizona, the busiest illegal entry point along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. There have been 147 arrests since the posse began its roundups, including at least one arrest Wednesday night.

Those who are captured by the posse may end up in jail, charged under the state law that allowed local law enforcement agencies to charge suspected smugglers in Arizona — it was already a federal crime.

"I equate it to the drug traffic," Arpaio told FOX News. "I spent 38 years fighting the international drug traffic. You arrest the supplier, you arrest the customer. It's the conspiracy, the customer to buy — the same thing here.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195083,00.html
i'm sure it won't be long until the character assasins come out against this guy. i applaud his efforts. hopefully many more will follow suit. :nice:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is an American patriot.

Now that is one pig I like.

I applaud the sentiment, but am worried about this:


The group was comprised of existing Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and members of the department's 3,000-member posse reserve of trained volunteers.


Cop wanna-bes are almost always trouble. As in more trouble than they're worth. As in I'm afraid they're going to go too far, and somebody is going to get hurt who didn't really deserve it, illegal or no. And this whole thing will also turn into a publicity debacle.

It never fails to piss me off when I consider to what extent the federal government has abandoned the borders, but I'm more than a little apprehensive about what's happening here. I hope I'm wrong.

I applaud the sentiment, but am worried about this:



Cop wanna-bes are almost always trouble. As in more trouble than they're worth. As in I'm afraid they're going to go too far, and somebody is going to get hurt who didn't really deserve it, illegal or no. And this whole thing will also turn into a publicity debacle.

It never fails to piss me off when I consider to what extent the federal government has abandoned the borders, but I'm more than a little apprehensive about what's happening here. I hope I'm wrong.
at least they're "officially trained", which is one of the big complaints people have about the minutemen.

Good points.

at least they're "officially trained", which is one of the big complaints people have about the minutemen.

Yes, but the Minutemen aren't deputized and have no power to arrest anyone, as I understand it. I thought all the Minutemen are ultimately doing is making phone calls, that they don't even technically stop anyone.

I would love to see Joe Arpaio being arrested on some corruption charge some day. Maybe he could be placed in the same brutal "tent city" that he calls a jail along with the others he victimized for so long. Then we can see how tough this guy really is.

Victims my ass, let them rot.

Here is the old time sherriff, he use to have
a cameras in the jail, and you could view it on
the internet. I saw it, and this is one jail I would
like to avoid. They must like him though, 38 years.