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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio faces an April 14 deadline for concluding talks with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a wide range of civil rights allegations, including that the sheriff launched some immigration patrols based on letters from people who complained about people with dark skin congregating in a given area or speaking Spanish but never reporting an actual crime. The sheriff has become nationally known for his tough stance against illegal immigration.
If Arpaio fails to settle the cases, he is going to be dragged into court in a pretty massive lawsuit. But I believe he will settle the cases before it gets that far. First of all, I like his tough stances against illegal immigration, but enforcement has to be done according to the Constitution. You cannot go after someone just because he looks "Mexican" or just because he speaks Spanish. That is profiling, which is illegal. However, if he goes about what he is doing lawfully, then I have no gripe at all with him. We need tough cops on our borders who will stop the inflow of illegal aliens. If Arpaio does that, and does it according to the law, then I will support what he is doing. This is the road I believe that he is going to take, and if he takes this road, he will not only still be America's toughest sheriff, but he will be a Constitutional one as well, which must be the bottom line, here in America. And as far as his actually rounding up illegal aliens, the Federal government needs to just butt out and let him do his job, which is to enforce the law. It may be a Federal law, but EVERYBODY must abide by it, which means that Federal agents don't have a monopoly on enforcement. They can still ensure that it is done Constitutionally, with no rights being violated, but if Sheriff Joe wants to "round them up", then he is in the right, and unless there is an issue of civil rights being violated, then the Feds have no right to stop him.
Article is here.