Barack
Obama's Shame: Joe Arpaio Wrecks Families, Wounds a Business, Makes a Little Girl Cry, All with Federal Authority
Dennis Gilman's account
of Joe Arpaio's car wash raid, and an interview with one of Arpaio's littlest victims.
This Saturday, while real cops were out hunting down murderers, rapists, burglars, and so on, Sheriff
Joe Arpaio -- true to his nickname, "Nickel Bag Joe" -- was at Lindstrom Family Auto Wash in Phoenix as his thugs with badges chased down immigrants and non-immigrants working there, corralled them like animals, and sifted through them until they had those they wanted to arrest. The total haul, according to media reports, was around 14 souls.
Participating in the raid on this family business were members of Sheriff Joe's 160-deputy force, trained by the feds under ICE's infamous 287(g) program. 287(g)-trained officers such as the MCSO's Sergeant Brett "Shut Up" Palmer and Lieutenant Joe Souza -- both
known for their invidious remarks directed at elected officials -- were present, along with numerous other junior G-men, and members of Arpaio's alter kocker army (a.k.a,, the sheriff's posse).
Most arrested were booked into custody under forgery charges, charges that may end up getting dropped if those arrested sign off on voluntary removal from the U.S., or roll over and testify against their employers.
Fourteen people means fourteen breadwinners, of course. One of the families ruthlessly crushed was that of nine-year-old American citizen Catherine Figueroa, whose testimony was captured on film by pro-immigrant activist Dennis Gilman. Both Catherine's mom Sandra, and her dad Carlos, were collared. She saw her father on TV zip-tied.
"I never knew this would happen," said the girl, who begins fourth grade this year.
Later, when asked what she would tell President Obama if she could, she tearfully asked for his assistance.
"I would tell him to help
us," she cried. "I want to get my parents back."
She also noted that one of the President's daughters is close to her age. Indeed, Natasha Obama, Obama's youngest, recently turned eight.
Catherine is an only child,
and is now being cared for her by her grandmother. As those booked were done so on state charges, you might argue that Arpaio could have done the raid without his
ICE-trained
gendarmes. Yet, he did in fact use his 287(g) men during the car wash bust.
That means the federal government's fingerprints are on this raid. Barack Obama's fingerprints
are on this raid.
Recently, I
described the visit to Phoenix of a self-important White House staffer by the name of Carlos Odio, who spoke with Hispanic leaders at El Portal restaurant a couple of weeks ago. Essentially, he informed the assembled
not to turn blue waiting for the Obama administration to do anything significant about immigration reform. As for Arpaio's 287(g) authority, which could be suspended with a snap of DHS secretary Janet
Napolitano's fingers, Obama's peeps are doing nothing fast.
Back when Lyndon Baines Johnson was President, and African-Americans were being denied their
civil rights by local sheriffs, he ordered a reluctant J. Edgar Hoover to act. In the midst of the civil rights struggle, Johnson famously told both houses of Congress that, "We shall overcome." And overcame they eventually
did.
Similarly, during Obama's 2008 campaign, our now President borrowed a phrase from Cesar Chavez and the UFW, "Si, se puede," which Obama offered up as, "Yes, we can." But as Hispanics in this country continue to suffer at the hands of tin-pot tyrants with 287(g) power, Obama's commitment to that phrase must be questioned. His administration's cynical, laissez-faire attitude to those hell-bent on
cleansing neighborhoods, cities, and states of all the brown they can is painful to observe.
Sure, there are investigations, and investigations of investigations, and that is fine. But children such as Catherine need the Obama administration to act, and act now. Not two or three years from now.
Tags: Barack Obama, Dennis Gilman, ICE, immigrant rights, immigration, Lieutenant Joe Souza, Sergeant Brett "Shut Up!" Palmer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Joe Arpaio Blasted by John Conyers, Zoe Lofgren, Mary Rose Wilcox Tomorrow in D.C.
http://americasvoiceonline.org/
www.sheriffjoemustgo.com
Justice
for Joe
 House
Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr., Democrat from Michigan. Why doesn't Arizona have someone like Conyers -- someone with huevos -- representing us? | (I called
Congressman Conyers' office, and a staffer there confirmed that Conyers is scheduled to be at the event. I also put in a call to Supervisor Wilcox's office, where her Chief of Staff said Wilcox is in D.C., but was unsure about the event itself.) The group will present over 35,000 signatures (mostly from residents of Arizona) demanding for Arpaio to be investigated. This follows up on the massive anti-Arpaio demonstration on February 28, led by Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha, as well as the searing letter sent by Conyers and other House members asking for the DOJ and DHS to look into Arpaio's alleged civil rights abuses and review his 287(g) agreement with the Feds. |
Also scheduled to be at the event are Arizona ACORN leader Alicia Navejar, Pablo Alvarado of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (you know, the folks who helped organize Phoenix's massive anti-Arpaio march), and Raquel Teran of the Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability, the group that's been bird-dogging the Board of Supervisors for the last year or so over Arpaio's misdeeds.
Below is the press release from the pro-immigrant organization America's Voice for the Arpaio-lashing tomorrow. How much money you wanna bet that Joe and his PR flunkies cook up some stunt locally -- maybe even a sweep or a raid -- to try and divert attention from the Conyers event? That would be standard operating procedure for the MCSO, after all.
** Wednesday, March 11 at 1:00PM **
National and Local Leaders Join Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren in Calling for Investigation of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Washington, DC - On Wednesday, March 11th, leaders from Arizona and across the nation will join U.S. Representatives John Conyers (D-MI) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), as well as other members of the House Judiciary Committee, to deliver a petition calling on the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial Sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ. Under a banner reading "Americans United to Defend Civil Rights," the leaders will present over 35,000 petition signatures that have been gathered to date.
Over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio, including repeated allegations of civil rights violations. Recently, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Conyers, Immigration Subcommittee Chairwoman Lofgren, Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) sent a letter to the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security calling for an investigation into allegations of misconduct by Arpaio. And last week over 5,000 activists from around the nation marched in protest of Arpaio's tactics. The situation has sparked a nationwide outcry and become a tragic symbol of the wrong approach to immigration law enforcement.
WHAT: National Leaders Present Petition on Capitol Hill, Call for Investigation of Sheriff Arpaio
WHO: U.S. Representative John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman, House Judiciary Committee, U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chairwoman, House Immigration Subcommittee, Mary Rose Wilcox,
Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA de Maryland, Pablo Alvarado, President of National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Alicia Navejar, ACORN Leader from Arizona, Raquel Teran, Project Director
for Maricopa Citizens for Safety and Accountability
WHEN: Wednesday, March 11 at 1:00pm
WHERE: Rayburn Building - Room 2203
Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street
Washington, DC 20003
Tags: John Conyers, Mary
Rose Wilcox, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Zoe Lofgren
Joe Arpaio Returns to Guadalupe, with an Army of Deputies to Watch His Back
Justice Department, Homeland Security Investigators Looking Into Joe Arpaio,
Joe Arpaio's Circus: Assault Rifles, Body Armor, Ski Masks and Traffic Stops
Al Sharpton Rocks Phoenix, to Wells Fargo and Finally, Lou Dobbs
Youtube-Rev. Al Sharpton Speaks in Phoenix and Calls For Unity
hellhole Jail ethnic cleansing raids: 31-year-old mother of four American children
"We Are Human," "Reform Not Raids," and "Joe Arpaio: Terrorist."
Joe Arpaio's anti-Hispanic federal 287(g) Homeland Security czar Janet Napolitano
Youtube-Zack de la Rocha addresses Arpaio, 287(g) and human dignity.
Arpaio's peculiar pathology is that he persists in his folly, no matter how wantonly self-destructive. Already, Maricopa County's top cop has kissed off the $1.2$million contract with the town, wasted $20,000 on a Guadalupe sweep that further alienated townspeople from the MCSO, and garnered himself probes by the FBI, and, if the New York Times has its way, a congressional committee.
Arpaio's sweep in Guadalupe has also forced the hand of Arizona's notoriously milquetoast governor. Governor Napolitano didn't completely acknowledge that Guadalupe was a factor in her recent decision to pull $1.6$ million in immigration funds from Arpaio's coffers. But during her regular Wednesday press conference not long after the costly slap in the face to her former ally, Arpaio, she made this slippery, legalistic statement:
"To the extent that the sheriff was using state money to fund sweeps that were causing trepidation in the immigration community, that state money will no longer be available."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to stick by Arpaio, who has 160 federally trained 287(g) officers under a Memorandum of Agreement with ICE, but sometimes even ICE hedges its bets. ICE spokesman Vinnie Picard recently pointed out that ICE had nothing to do with the stops and arrests that the MCSO was making under state law.
"We have no oversight of how [the] Maricopa County Sheriff's Office conducts its state authority," Picard said.
Arpaio's response to it all has ranged from sounding hurt to appearing outright psychotic. It's forced him into damage-control mode: having his PR staff schedule long Q&As with local dailies, set up appearances on Sunday-evening radio shows to curry favor with moderates, seek donations from well-wishers to make up the $1.6$million the governor just ripped from his department's budget.
All so he can continue hunting Hispanics.
Even the MCSO's foray into Arpaio's backyard white-bread-money-suv Fountain Hills (where deputies managed to scrape up 16 suspected illegals in two days by halting nearly every old truck with landscaping equipment in it during the morning hours) was tailor-made to refute the contention that Arpaio goes only into brown areas like Guadalupe Though Arpaio's troops continued their sweep the next day, going so far as to menace a confirmation ceremony for parish children at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic church Hispanic-hunting with a low-profile operation. (Guadalupe Poverty Mexican-American or Native American Christianity taught Yaquis by Jesuit priests with their native religion)
borderlands country of Arizona and Sonora without encountering images of the Yaqui deer dancer. | Fixed in bronze and larger than life, he stands as a public monument in Ciudad Obregon., even the official seal of the state of Sonora feature his image. Yet even when he cavorts wildly in the interpretive motions of one folk dance troupe or another, he is mute. What speaks are the political and economic motives that cluster around him. He is the aboriginal connection of the politicians, the romantic lure of the ad man, the borderlands equivalent, in many ways, to the warbonneted Plains Indian horseman of the wild west. To all Yaqui Indian people, the deer dancer is little brother, and when he dances for them he has a voice. The voice speaks to all who attend a deer dance through the songs to which the dancer moves. The songs of the deer singer are the voice of the deer. In them, as one deer singer puts it, he does not talk, but he talks in an enchanted way. |
| arizona.edu/wordsandplace/seyewailo |
But Arpaio wouldn't have gone to Fountain Hills if it hadn't been for Guadalupe blowing up in his face. Nor would he have paused his anti-immigrant sweeps for four weeks. Or hesitated to march into Mesa and stick it to the Hispanic community there.
Whatever the precise reason, like a sandlot bully faced with actual fisticuffs, Arpaio did slink away. And the backpedaling didn't stop there. Arpaio had previously told reporters that the anti-immigrant sweeps would be weekly events.
Justice for Joeby: jackie @ americasvoice |
 In Sheriff Joe Arpaio's world, justice is trampled every day. Now, if you are an immigrant detainee, you could find yourself marching in chains to segregated "Tent Cities" in the Arizona desert, surrounded by electric fencing. Well, together with the House Judiciary Committee and a wide range of organizations, we're shouting, "Not so fast!" People from all across the country are speaking out against Arpaio's blatant civil and human rights violations. Here's the great news: along with our friends at United Farm Workers, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, NDLON, and more, we have already collected 8,000 petition signatures for Attorney General Eric Holder, demanding an investigation into Joe's horrific tactics. Only 2,000 signatures are left to reach the goal of 10,000 by the first week of March. Watch a brand-new video about Sheriff Joe, sign the petition, and forward to your friends and family now: http://www.SheriffJoeMustGo.com To Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Driving While Brown is a bigger deal than the thousands of felony warrants piling up on his desk. Joe's latest publicity stunt crossed the line. Well now people are take an even bigger stand, as thousands of protesters convene in Phoenix at the end of the week to rally for justice. Check out the events happening from Chicago to Phoenix, watch the new video, and help spread the word. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Together, let's show this backward Sheriff what justice really means: http://www.SheriffJoeMustGo.com |
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