By Ray Stern
Much of the money for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration-enforcement efforts lately has poured out of a special pool of state money.
But New Times has learned that Governor Janet Napolitano's turning off the spigot.
In what appears to be a prelude to a major fight between Napolitano and Arpaio, the governor issued an executive order last week to develop a new task force--headed up by the state Department of Public Safety--to find and arrest tens of thousands of felons with outstanding warrants.
And, according to a letter from DPS Director Roger Vanderpool to Arpaio outlining the new effort, the task force will be funded with the money that Arpaio isn't getting anymore.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted just last week to renew an agreement between the DPS and the Sheriff's Office that would've allowed Arpaio to obtain $1 million in special funds for fiscal year 2009, which starts in July.
A review of receipts and requests for reimbursement from the Sheriff's Office shows that most of the money obtained last year was used to pay the salaries and overtime expenses of deputies involved in immigration enforcement. The state funds also were used to lease numerous vehicles from Fox Rent A Car and also to purchase radios and other equipment.
But the letter from Vanderpool explains that, although the county wants the agreement renewed, the state won't do it "because of limited resources."
Napolitano's been criticized for failing to take a stance on Arpaio's immigration sweeps, but it seems now that she's been quietly working on a plan to hit the sheriff where it hurts: in the pocketbook.
Whether the governor's tactic of escalation works politically remains to be seen. Recent polls show that most county residents still approve of Arpaio's methods, despite criticism that he's racially profiling practically anyone who's skin's brown as a potential illegal alien--notably American citizens.
Arpaio's also been lambasted for his failure to serve thousands of felony arrest warrants, choosing instead to expend a large amount of his office's resources on rounding up real and perceived illegal aliens.
Napolitano's executive order states that the new task force "will immediately deploy" detectives to go after the unserved felony warrants, "with priority on gang-related felonies and undocumented aliens with felony warrants."
Dennis Burke, the governor's chief of staff, tells New Times that Arpaio's go-it-alone attitude, combined with the need to round up fugitive felons, led to Napolitano's decision.
Sheriff's officials "were supposed to be sharing intel with us, they were supposed to be coordinating with us, and the Sheriff's Office was thinking it was just a blank check," Burke says.
Arpaio's flacks haven't immediately responded to New Times' request for an interview with the sheriff, or with any other knowledgeable MCSO official, about this evolving story. The fireworks should be starting anytime now...
How about yanking Governor Janet Napolitano's from her comfy office, and putting her out with the unemployed Arizona citizens? Don't let this pro-illegal alien governor Divest law enforcement officers of their funding.
However is definite change in the wind, as some courageous Governors, Mayors and city leaders are pushing for laws against the illegal immigration invasion. However their are too many upper echelons of bureaucrats who miserably genuflect to the wealthy corporate machine. Colorado because it's hesitation might find it will become known as a Sanctuary state, where hundreds of fleeing illegal immigrants from less welcoming states may decide to settle. Even pro-illegal immigration groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, is just another special interest group, that dances to the tune of the pro-illegal immigration lobby. Then we have California, its alias as a Sanctuary State. Obviously not because the majority of legal permanent residence want it, but because the Governor, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and his city Supervisors who have become puppets to the Hispanic Caucus. California is a squatters paradise to millions of illegal aliens, and that wrongly the Census bureau have calculated the number of representatives on foreign nationals, which has had a destabilizing effect on a once beautiful city. Representative should be calculated on actual citizens and permanent residence, not on people who have broke immigration laws and strained the Golden states resources for its illegal propagation. Perhaps Americans have a voice after all, and that finally the hired help in Washington is listening, as the immigration sweeps across the country are widening and growing in momentum to the lament of fearful illegal aliens. (ICE) is finally implementing the 1986 Simpson/Mazzoli Control bill, although I have yet to see a high profile CEO be convicted and going to prison. Larger (ICE) sweeps are taking their toll, which should mean the company will be hiring legal workers and paying a fair wage, offering honest conditions and benefits. Instead of using the taxpayer as a free-ride for corporate profits. It was Arizona who took the initiative, and against the odds of pro-illegal immigration lobby became the immigration precedence to enact state laws against parasite employers. Georgia,Oklahoma and Rhode Island followed, which has produced a major exodus of fleeing illegal alien. Nebraska and Colorado are pivoting to a more less generous stance on illegal workers, because they can no longer afford the massive outlay of funds which predator businesses has placed squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers. Remember that the federal SAVE ACT (H.R.4088) can strengthen state laws like Arizona, and give local Sheriffs the tools they need to arrest and deport illegal aliens. Only you THE PEOPLE have the power of the vote to stop reluctant Democrats from co-authoring this pending law.
Posted at: May 13, 2008 3:33 PM