Phoenix News Blog

Kim Jong-il and Uncle Sam share a distaste for border-crossers...

The welcome news that Tucson missionary Robert Park has returned home after being imprisoned for six weeks by the North Korean government has been splattered across the Internet, and rightly so. The 28 year-old crossed over into North Korea from China on Christmas Day to draw attention to what he called the "genocide" via starvation by the North Korean government of its own people.

In a brave, and some would say Quixotic act, Park traversed a frozen river into North Korea with letters demanding that the country's communist dictator Kim Jong-il step down from power and close his nation's concentration camps. Park was arrested by North Korean authorities for entering the country illegally and held for 43 days. Park has yet to speak about his ordeal in captivity, so we don't yet know if he was tortured.

The North Koreans quoted Park making statements about "religious freedom" in that country, but these were likely made under duress.

I was struck by the mention in several reports that Park had done missionary and humanitarian work among the poor in Nogales, Sonora, so he is undoubtedly familiar with the plight of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. illegally, and those who are unceremoniously dumped back over the border by Wackenhut buses under contract with the federal government.

Every day, at the Evo A. Deconcini Federal Courthouse in Tucson, some 70 migrants are given mass trials where they plead guilty to counts of illegal entry into the U.S. If it's their first offense, they often get off with time served, however many days that's been. The second time around, federal magistrates usually hit the migrants with sentences of up to 60 days or more as part of plea deals.

from gallegoforarizona.com

Really, Ruben, it's not worth the $410...

There's absolutely no doubt that Mark Spencer, head of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, has turned the police union into an anti-immigration juggernaut. Spencer has been a tireless backer of state Senator (and neo-Nazi hugger) Russell Pearce's efforts to turn all law enforcement officers in Arizona into immigration agents. He's one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's strongest supporters. And he's transformed his post into a nativist bully pulpit, appearing frequently on Mexican-basher J.D. Hayworth's former radio show, for instance, to back a far-right stance against undocumented people in the city and state.

So why would the Arizona Democratic Party and Ruben Gallego, ex-chief of staff for Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski and candidate for the state house in Legislative District 16, which includes largely Hispanic areas such as South Phoenix and Guadalupe, take donations from a group led by such an odious individual?

According to campaign finance reports on the Arizona Secretary of State's Web site, Gallego took $410 in cash from PLEA's PAC, which is chaired by Spencer. Gallego also proudly lists PLEA on the endorsement page of his Web site along with such lefty union groups as SEIU and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.

Gallego also notes in his bio that he's "the son of two Hispanic immigrants."

So why does he take funds from a guy like Spencer who has targeted the Hispanic community in rhetoric and action? A guy who has spread incendiary shibboleths about the Mexican military operating in Phoenix? A guy who never passes up the opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Russell Pearce?

"Spencer represents a lot of police officers," Gallego responded when I called him for comment. "And those police officers -- when it comes to labor issues -- I'm going to support [them] at the state Capitol. I clearly [told PLEA] I would do that, but will not support any of their immigration views."

Catch James Garcia's play for free, one night only...

The DREAM Act should be a no-brainer for even those anti-immigration types out there. Why shouldn't we try to keep smart, law-abiding kids here in the U.S. after we've educated them? Talk about model citizens and patriots! Many of these young men and women are even willing to serve in our military for a chance to stay in the country, which is a helluva lot more than most citizens are willing to do.

On humanitarian grounds, I've met too many teens and 20-somethings who've been crushed by our insane immigration policies not to support legislation that would let them remain. And there's no reason to wait for comprehensive immigration reform to get a law like this through Congress. The only folks who stand in our way are the toothless losers who spend their lives hating on Mexicans. Most of them are envious of these kids, that's why they want them to suffer for the supposed sins of their parents.

I'll be on the road most of the day today, so I'll miss seeing James Garcia's play Dream Act for free tonight at the Catalina Elementary School. All I can do is encourage everyone to attend, read my colleague Malia Politzer's recent piece "Return to Sender," which discusses the issue at length, and lobby your senators and representatives to act -- now. Details are below.

And for those haters out there who're down on the brown kids and whine about how all potential DREAM Act beneficiaries should go back to Mexico, I don't suggest you go. Likely your noggins will spontaneously combust after being confronted with the story of future DREAMers smarter than you are. Of course, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing . . .

WHEN: February 3, 2010, 7:15 p.m. (one night only)

WHAT: Dream Act tells the story of Victoria Nava, an undocumented immigrant and university student who dreams of practicing medicine. Homeless and afraid of being deported in the face of an immigration crackdown, Victoria's dream of graduating from college is slipping away. (Note that this performance will be followed by a short discussion with the playwright and experts on the Dream Act, a proposed federal law that would provide a path to citizenship for the more than 65,000 undocumented young people who graduate from high school in the United States each year.)

ADMISSION: Free and open to the public.

WHERE: Catalina Elementary, 4510 North 37th Avenue in Phoenix

I'm not pointing it at you, I'm brandishing.

I've always dreamed of riding a nuclear payload right into enemy territory a la Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove (whatever "enemy territory" is these days), and I'm a step closer because of the efforts of former East Valley Tribune columnist Le Templar and his new bosses at the Goldwater Institute here in Phoenix.

See, Le recently abandoned ship at the long-sinking Trib for a gig at G.I., and though I regularly read his "What I Know" blog, I guess I missed the most recent one, wherein he informed the public that he was starting with the libertarian think-tank as a member of the staff.

So imagine my surprise when I opened a recent e-mail from G.I. arguing on behalf of gun rights to find that Templar is now G.I.'s communications director. I shot an e-mail back to Le, who tells me that he started January 25 and is so far enjoying the gig.

Bully for him. I've always enjoyed Templar's take on Sand Land's polluted political environment. And I'm hoping that if the Repugnant can ever separate E.J. Montini from his swivel chair and show his simpering mug the door, it'll get a clue and replace him with someone who has something to say, you know, like Templar.

(Or, as I've argued before, even the Rep's own Richard Ruelas, who's been banished to the "ladies," er, I mean, the "living" section. Ruelas' crime? Like Templar, he can write. But I digress...)

A pack of MCSO detention officers -- some of them 287(g)-trained -- walk Garcia-Martinez into a room to get her fingerprint on an ICE document.

I recently watched with great skepticism and annoyance ICE honcho John Morton's videotaped remarks to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington. There, on January 25, the DHS Assistant Secretary talked of the fact that he was born in Scotland, that his mother is a legal permanent resident, and how he's staking his legacy as the top guy at ICE on detention reform.

The source of my skepticism is twofold: Morton's recent defense of ICE's continued partnership with Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio in the county jails here; and the revelations of recent documents and video released by the MCSO in the case of Maria del Carmen Garcia-Martinez, a Hispanic housewife whose arm was broken while in MCSO custody last year.

For those who may not recall my reports in March concerning Garcia-Martinez's travails, she was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department on March 6, 2009, after a cop tried to issue her a warning for putting up yard sale signs in her neighborhood.

The 5-foot-something 46-year-old, who's been in the U.S. illegally for decades, had an old expired California ID on her and a matricula card from the Mexican consulate. Due to a small discrepancy between the two IDs, Phoenix PD arrested the mother of three on suspicion of forgery.

Following the injury to her arm, still in MCSO custody, you can see Garcia-Martinez cradling her left arm in a makeshift sling of her own device

A couple of days later, law dogs at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office -- not known for being pikers when it comes to pursuing the undocumented -- declined to prosecute because there was "no reasonable likelihood of conviction." As Garcia-Martinez was in MCSO custody with an immigration hold on her, there was nothing left but for her to be transferred to ICE.

Before I continue to the breaking of Garcia-Martinez's left elbow, let me address a shibboleth that John Morton spewed when he spoke to the Arizona Republic recently and defended the fact that ICE maintains a 287(g) agreement with Arpaio's jails, with 287(g)-trained MCSO detention officers and actual ICE agents nearby to help process the warm bodies.

Friend to the brown man? It remains to be seen...

Barack Obama achieved the presidency in part because of the votes of U.S. Hispanics. According the Pew Hispanic Center, 67 percent of Latinos voted for Obama over John McCain in 2008.

And yet, the Obama administration has given little more than lip-service to an issue that directly affects the extended families of many American Latinos: immigration reform.

Indeed, in Obama's State of the Union speech last night, the President effectively snubbed the concept of Comprehensive Immigration Reform by mentioning the subject only in passing, and even then, only in the context of national security.

"We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system," Obama told the U.S. Congress, "to secure our borders and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nation."

That was it, one line, in a speech that rambled through such topics as campaign finance, bipartisanship, the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, gay rights, the environment, the financial bailout, and so on.

In essence, Obama's message to the 12 million undocumented squeaking by on the margins, and to those who advocate on their behalf, is: Don't hold your breath, amigos.

How does he get away with this, when more than 30 percent of America's foreign-born population is from Mexico alone, and when Hispanics have backed him in record numbers?

Easy, he and his political advisors can read the polls. As the Pew Hispanic Center noted in a November, 2009 analysis, "Immigration has been a low- to mid-tier issue with the U.S. public for the past three years."

from MagoEarthParkGallery

What's all the hubbub? Looks pretty cool to me...

To cop and alter a line from Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I, the rednecks are revolting! Yeah, man, they stink on ice.

Arpayaso's numbers are softening, but the game ain't over yet, lads

A new BRC Rocky Mountain Poll shows Sheriff Joe's approval rating slipping in Maricopa County, though I find the poll's claim that Arpaio's popularity has collapsed to be premature.

Countywide, only 39 percent of respondents rate Arpaio's performance as "good" or "very good." That's way down from the 54 percent he got in the same category back in July of 2008.

However, 20 percent rate Arpaio as "fair," while seven percent are "not sure." Only 34 percent of respondents rate Arpaio as "poor" or "very poor," up from 28 percent in 2008.

Remember, Arpaio doesn't face re-election till 2012, a race he's already raising money for. In the 2008 election, he scored 55 percent to challenger Dan Saban's 42 percent. If Saban had not been abandoned by the state Democratic Party, he could've narrowed that gap considerably.

Should Arpaio face a substantial challenger in 2012, he can be beaten. He'll turn 80 in 2012, and if you don't have Arpaio fatigue by then, you never will.

ICE's chief hypocrite John Morton

Sheriff Arpaio's flacks are usually full of it, churning out press release after press release with the sole purpose of puffing up Joe's jowly profile for the public. 

But once in a blue billy goat, they actually make a point, as was done with the January 21, 2010 press release, "Sheriff Arpaio Perplexed by ICE Secretary's Statement."

It reads, in part,

Published reports today indicate that [ICE head John] Morton is actually defending Arpaio's 287(g) program in the Sheriff's jails where already over 274,000 people have been investigated by Sheriff's officers. Over 31,000 of those investigated have been identified as being in the country illegally making them ineligible for release into the streets of our community. Morton says that local law enforcement "cannot turn a blind eye to people who are here illegally even if they have no criminal record."

Morton's statements are a bit perplexing to Sheriff Arpaio given that it is Morton's agency that was responsible for partially dismantling Arpaio's 287G program when he took away the authority of over 100 deputies to enforce illegal immigration laws by acting as immigration agents on the street of Maricopa County.

Indeed, Morton did defend ICE's continued jails partnership with the MCSO in recent statements to the Arizona Republic. Though ICE axed Arpaio's 287(g) street authority last year, the agency maintained the 287(g) program in the county jails, where some 60-plus federally-trained MCSO thugs are empowered to inquire after arrestees' nationality and intimidate the undocumented into signing voluntary removal forms, allowing ICE to quickly boot them from the U.S.

ICE is desperate to keep 287(g) in Arpaio's vast incarceration complex. In fact, before Arpaio signed on to 287(g) in 2007, that's all ICE wanted. Arpaio held out until ICE granted him 287(g) field authority; i.e., the power to instigate anti-immigrant sweeps. ICE finally gave in, authorizing the largest force of 287(g) officers in the nation. 

In making this deal with El Diablo, ICE gave Arpaio carte blanche to profile based on race and ethnicity, to target Hispanics and deprive them of their constitutional rights. In essence, ICE aided and abetted the MCSO in alleged violations of federal law, violations that are still being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. Up until the shift in administrations, ICE insisted that the MCSO was in compliance with the first Memorandum of Agreement the two agencies had signed. Such prevarications were obvious then, but are even more plain in hindsight.

As long as ICE and Arpaio work together in the jails, they share responsibility for the civil and human rights violations that occur therein. Arpaio, of course, could give a javelina's snout for the conditions in his medieval holding facilities, where pregnant women are shackled, mothers have their arms broken or their jaws busted, and where inmates often die from neglect or beat-downs.

If this grosses you out, that means you're normal.

Usually, folks like to compare Sheriff Joe to rather nefarious historical figures, you know, like Bull Connor, Idi Amin, Augusto Pinochet, Benito Mussolini (well, they're both Italian), and so on.

But the Man from Galilee? The Prince of Peace? The Light of This World? Jesus Christ himself?

That's the insanity sputtered recently by this nutty, nativist preacher-man, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who apparently likes Arpaio because our Mexican-chasin' "shurf" is down on the brown. Kinda ironic, considering that Peterson is an African-American gent. But then, bigots come in all colors.

"When I think about your situation," Peterson told Arpaio, who was apparently a guest today on Peterson's LA-based radio show. "And I'm not calling you Christ, of course, but it reminded me of what he had to go through fro standing up for what is right. And that's all you're doing is standing up for what is right."

Journalist Eduardo Barraza of the independent, Phoenix news source Barriozona.com captured Peterson playing lickspittle to our corrupt county constable. You can listen to the audio he captured, here.

Now, there are a lot of Biblical characters that you could liken Arpaio to: Pontius Pilate, Ramses II (you know, the guy who goes toe-to-toe with Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments), or my favorite, Nimrod, which in Arpaio's case, would be pronounced "Dim-rod."