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Justice Department Charges Anti-Immigrant Hero Joe Arpaio with Long List of Civil Rights Violations

Submitted by Miranda Blue on December 15, 2011 - 1:26pm

Sheriff Joe Arpaio is something of a hero to the anti-immigrant Right. He was one of the most outspoken proponents of Arizona’s draconian anti-immigrant law last year, in a large part because he had already been using the racial profiling tactics it authorized for years. He delighted in punishing prisoners –including protestors of his tactics – by making them wear pink underwear, a practice he commemorated last month by giving Sarah Palin her very own pair. He briefly had his own reality TV show. He was courted by the Tea Party. GOP presidential candidates, including Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain vied for his endorsement, which he ultimately gave to Rick Perry before joining the candidate on the campaign trail.

Arpaio’s reckless flair for self-promotion and disregard for civil rights have been well-known for as long as he has had national fame. But today, the Justice Department released a long and scathing report detailing the Sheriff’s record of civil rights violations, including his discrimination against Latinos and non-English speakers, “excessive use of force” and “unlawful retaliation against individuals exercising their First Amendment right to criticize MCSO’s policies or practices.”

The AP outlines some of the most shocking allegations in the report:

The civil rights report said Latinos are four to nine times more likely to be stopped in traffic stops in Maricopa County than non-Latinos and that the agency's immigration policies treat Latinos as if they are all in the country illegally. Deputies on the immigrant-smuggling squad stop and arrest Latino drivers without good cause, the investigation found.

A review done as part of the investigation found that 20 percent of traffic reports handled by Arpaio's immigrant-smuggling squad from March 2006 to March 2009 were stops - almost all involving Latino drivers - that were done without reasonable suspicion. The squad's stops rarely led to smuggling arrests.

Deputies are encouraged to make high-volume traffic stops in targeted locations. There were Latinos who were in the U.S. legally who were arrested or detained without cause during the sweeps, according to the report.

During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city - in some cases, heavily Latino areas - over several days to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders. Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted by his office since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio's office.

Police supervisors, including at least one smuggling-squad supervisor, often used county accounts to send emails that demeaned Latinos to fellow sheriff's managers, deputies and volunteers in the sheriff's posse. One such email had a photo of a mock driver's license for a fictional state called "Mexifornia."

The report said that the sheriff's office launched an immigration operation two weeks after the sheriff received a letter in August 2009 letter about a person's dismay over employees of a McDonald's in the Phoenix suburb of Sun City who didn't speak English. The tip laid out no criminal allegations. The sheriff wrote back to thank the writer "for the info," said he would look into it and forwarded it to a top aide with a note of "for our operation."
 

Federal investigators focused heavily on the language barriers in Arpaio's jails.

Latino inmates with limited English skills were punished for failing to understand commands in English by being put in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day or keeping prisoners locked down in their jail pods for as long as 72 hours without a trip to the canteen area or making nonlegal phone calls.

The report said some jail officers used racial slurs for Latinos when talking among themselves and speaking to inmates.

Detention officers refused to accept forms requesting basic daily services and reporting mistreatment when the documents were completed in Spanish and pressured Latinos with limited English skills to sign forms that implicate their legal rights without language assistance.

The agency pressures Latinos with limited English skills to sign forms by yelling at them and keeping them in uncomfortably cold cells for long periods of time.

These allegations are disturbing enough in themselves. But what’s even more troubling is that the person behind them has been not only held up as a hero by the Right, but has served as an inspiration for immigration legislation around the country. In a report last year, we examined the ways the anti-immigrant Right has worked to dehumanize immigrants in order “to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment and build political opposition to comprehensive immigration reform.” It should come as no surprise that Sheriff Joe is the movement’s figurehead.
 

Cross-posted from PFAW Blog

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Perry and Bachmann on Immigration: Shut Down the Border, Deport 11 Million People

Submitted by Josh Glasstetter on December 5, 2011 - 3:15pm

The issues of border security and illegal immigration are incredibly complex and directly affect tens of millions of Americans – not to mention the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are estimated to be living in the United States. In other words, these are issues that call for some level of nuance.

Nuance, however, isn’t something that Governor Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann do: 

 When asked about border security by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Perry responded:
I have made the commitment that 12 months after being inaugurated as president, that border will be shut down, and it’ll be secure. 
We can only hope that Perry misspoke about shutting down the border with Mexico. Bachmann, however, was very clear in stating her determination to tear apart millions of families and devastate the economy by deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants: 
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi: You have pledged to deport all 11 million illegal aliens. Homeland Security tells us that will cost $135 billion. Tell us, first, how you plan to pay for that and how you will execute that plan.
 
Bachmann: This is the thorniest, most difficult issue in dealing with illegal immigration. What about deportation? I believe that we should uphold the laws of the land which does include deportation. […]
 
Bondi: What is your plan for executing it?
 
Bachmann: It would be enforcement. Enforcement both at the border but also by the ICE agents. Right now, essentially, our ICE agents – those are the agents in the interior of the country who are tasked with enforcing the laws – they’re not enforcing them. We also have sanctuary cities where they don’t enforce the laws either on deportation. 

 

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ALIPAC On The Verge Of Going Out Of Business

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on December 1, 2011 - 4:14pm

This summer, William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC appeared on the Janet Mefferd program where he declared that President Obama had become a dictator with plans to create a police state and use undocumented immigrants to wage war on "White America."

Gheen went on to suggest that there was no "peaceful, political recourse" to Obama's dictatorship and so people might need to start contemplating "some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent."

Today, Gheen sent out an email to supporters reporting that due to anemic fundraising, ALIPAC is on the verge of being forced to shut down operations:

We are sorry to report that for the first time in our organization's history, we have failed to reach our minimum operational expenses for our final funds drive of 2011. All things being equal, this would put us on a final shutdown date of January 1, 2011.

ALIPAC's fund raising difficulties can be explained by four major causes. The first is the horrific political and economic environment we find ourselves in as a nation at this time. The second is that we are having to take issue with different politicians like Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich of whom some of our members have decided to support.

Third, many of our supporters are utterly dismayed by the authoritarian and dictatorial actions of Obama, who has decreed a form of Amnesty for illegal aliens, while secretly using our tax monies to buy military style weapons for the smugglers bringing in the aliens and the drugs. Unfortunately, Obama has demoralized some of our supporters who are throwing their hands up in exhaustion instead of rallying against Obama.

The fourth reason we are having trouble raising funds has to do with some very important technical issues involving our website and e-mail distribution lists. These issues have caused many of our supporters to be unfortunately, disconnected from our reach and our communications. We have a bold plan to fix these issues.

We are so thankful for all of you who have given of your time and money to support ALIPAC. Your loyalty and dedication to our cause is something for which we cannot say thank you enough times!

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Buchanan Agrees With Fischer That U.S. Should Ban Muslim Immigration And Mosques

Submitted by Brian Tashman on November 2, 2011 - 3:00pm

Today on Focal Point, Pat Buchanan told host Bryan Fischer that he was “absolutely correct” in his repeated demand that the U.S. ban mosques and Muslim immigration. Buchanan, promoting his new book Suicide of a Superpower, has recently reminisced about the segregation era and made an appearance on a self-described “pro-white” radio show.

Not only does Fischer, the Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association, want to ban Muslim immigration, but he also wants to force all immigrants to “convert to Christianity.”

Watch:

Fischer: One of the suggestions I’ve made and have been hammered for it and I want to get your take on this, I’ve suggested that it’s time for us to reconsider Islamic immigration because we’re inviting into our shores people who do not share Western values. Islam, all the values in Sharia law, are absolutely, fundamentally contrary to all of the values and freedoms that we cherish in the West, and so I’ve suggested we need to rethink whether we can afford any more Muslim immigration into the US, whether we can afford to have more mosques built, do you think that’s too extreme or do you think there’s another way we can deal with the threat Islam poses to our cultural fabric?

Buchanan: In Europe you know they had a referendum in Switzerland that no more minarets, any prayer towers on the existing mosques, and they’ve condemned the wearing of the burqa that’s forced upon Muslim women. And in France and all across Europe they’re applauding those decisions, now Europe is far more to the left than the United States. But I think you’re absolutely correct.

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Anti-Immigrant Activists Blast Perry Over DREAM Act Defense

Submitted by Brian Tashman on September 23, 2011 - 12:37pm

At last night’s Republican presidential debate Gov. Rick Perry defended a state law he signed that allows the children of undocumented immigrants living in Texas to pay in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities. Although Perry has attacked the federal DREAM Act as “amnesty,” anti-immigrant activists are furious over his defense of the Texas law.

In a statement, Americans for Legal Immigration-PAC president William Gheen speculated that Perry has “assured his own defeat”:

Texas Governor Perry destroyed his chances of winning the GOP Presidential primary during last night's debate when he defended his support for in-state tuition for illegal aliens which is opposed by 81% of all Americans.

"Rick Perry proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is not the right choice for America by supporting these radical illegal immigration attracting measures," said William Gheen, President of ALIPAC. "Perry's support for in-state tuition for illegals forces taxpayers to pay to replace their own children in the limited seats in our colleges!"

…

"GOP voters cannot vote for Rick Perry now without legitimizing and supporting in-state tuition for illegal immigrants," said William Gheen. "Perry has assured his own defeat despite the fact that he is receiving so much support and favoritism from globalist groups in the media. It is clear to me that the globalists who are responsible for illegal immigration in America are using their power to promote Rick Perry at this time."

Chris Chmielenski of Numbers USA also criticized Perry:

Legal immigration aside, the storyline of tonight's debate was Gov. Perry's insistence to stand behind his decision to sign the Texas Dream Act, granting in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens. Perry's response continues to be that these individuals will become a drag on society, but what he fails to understand is that with or without an education, these young people can't legally work in the United States. Plus, as Rick Santorum pointed out, no one is denying illegal aliens an education. Illegal aliens can still go to the University of Texas, but they should have to pay the same tuition rate that Arizona residents who attend the University of Texas pay.

Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation wrote in an email to members that his stance will haunt him throughout the primary:

Perry blew it.

How?

By pandering to the illegal alien vote.

Perry has gained a lot of traction from the Tea Party movement. By doubling down on the illegal alien issue, he has gained no friend and alienated many in the conservative movement.

…

His support of illegal aliens is hurting him.

Even American Family Association spokesman Bryan Fischer got into the mix, taking particular issue with Perry’s claim that those who oppose in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants don’t “have a heart”:

It’s fine to say we should not punish children for the sins of their fathers. But neither should we reward them. And we are not just rewarding the children, we are rewarding the parents, since many of them stole into the U.S. because they wanted to give their children a shot at a decent education. (The solution: help Mexico improve its educational system.) So Gov. Perry simply cannot get around the fact that he is rewarding the illegal behavior of aliens who have no right to be here. That is an exceedingly troublesome position for someone who wants to be our nation’s chief law enforcement officer.

…

Public schools at every level should be reserved for students who have a legal right to be in this country. The immigration status of every applicant should be checked and enrollment reserved for legal residents of the United States. If illegal aliens wants [sic] to pursue higher education, let’s repatriate them to their native land where they can pursue education to their heart’s content.

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Gohmert: Obama Breached His Oath Of Office; "Is Making Us Like A Third World, Corrupt Country"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on August 31, 2011 - 9:25am

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) joined Frank Gaffney yesterday on Secure Freedom Radio to discuss President Obama’s recent executive order that would prioritize the deportation of undocumented immigrants “who have been convicted of crimes or pose a security risk” over “people who are low priorities for deportation,” such as children, students and veterans. During his appearance on Gaffney’s show, Gohmert maintained that this executive order represents “a breach of the oath” and proves that Obama “has done more to undo the very foundation of the country: the rule of law.” Later in the interview the congressman alleged that Obama is “making us like a Third World, corrupt country where the rule of law is tossed aside”:

Gaffney: What does it mean to a polity like ours, that you have a president who says, I am going to selectively enforce the laws on immigration, for example and to what extent does that really represent a breach of his oath of office?

Gohmert: Well it does represent a breach of the oath. This is a president who has done more to undo the very foundation of the country: the rule of law, that no matter who you are, President, member of Congress, whoever it doesn’t matter, the law is to be equally applied across the board. And there’ve been exceptions where people have gotten away with stuff but never to the extent that this guy has pushed, and like you said he’s shown contempt for the lawmaking process.

…

So immigration is now one more thing where he is making us like a Third World, corrupt country where the rule of law is tossed aside and it’s not equal application of the law, it’s who you know that gets you by.

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Gheen Suggests Violence May Be Needed To Stop Obama's War On "White America"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on August 22, 2011 - 4:22pm

William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC joined Janet Mefferd today to make the case that President Obama is now a dictator who plans to create a police state and use undocumented immigrants to wage war on “White America.” Gheen, who previously accused Obama of treason and “replacing many core Americans” (among other radical claims), told Mefferd that “extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent” may be needed to bring down Obama. Later in the interview, Gheen demanded that Republicans begin an impeachment process against Obama but lamented that he couldn’t hold marches in Washington D.C. because he was afraid that the president has too many supporters among the city’s black and Latino residents.

Gheen: What Janet Napolitano has spent most of her time doing in the last couple of months has been, one, preparing the new spy network that’s available now, the new data-collecting, see everything you do online, beyond the normal terrorist list that they’re creating, they’re creating a much larger list now of people who might be troublesome here in the country. And putting out videos and propaganda telegraphing what I believe to be a conflict with White America they’re preparing for after they get another 10 or 15 million people in the country to back them up.

…

We’re no longer referring to him as President Barack Obama, our national organization has made the decision and made the announcement we now refer to him as Dictator Barack Obama. That’s what he is. And basically at this point, if you’re looking for a peaceful, political recourse there really isn’t one that we can think of, and I’m really not sure what to tell people out there than I guess they need to make decisions soon to just accept whatever comes next or some type of extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent.

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Tea Party Nation Condemns "Non-European" Immigration

Submitted by Brian Tashman on July 5, 2011 - 9:40am

Eliana Benador, the neoconservative PR agent who lost her outlet in the Washington Times after she speculated that former congressman Anthony Weiner may have converted to Islam, now has a new outlet: the Tea Party Nation. In her column for the tea party group that once lamented that America is facing white “extinction,” Benador blames immigrants from “non-European nations” for much of the country’s social ills. She claims that such non-European immigration was responsible for President Obama’s election and claims that the U.S. should consider revoking First Amendment protections for religions (most likely Islam) that she deems inherently violent:

Some may agree that we have forgotten the lessons taught by slavery -and may be prone to not identify it even if it knocks at our doors, when we see a silent invader roaming our streets and we don’t dare call it as it is:

The invasion of America is taking place as we speak, but if we remove those blinders, we can still stop it.

What has happened to our country? How did this situation begin? It all began when then Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy heavily supported the abolition of the National Origins Formula, in place since the Immigration Act of 1924, to replace it with the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

In a flagrant display of nepotism in America, when the three Kennedy brothers took the reins of American politics, immigration reform was a critical issue for the family community of origin: the Irish.

…

Despite assurances by the Kennedys that the immigration reform they were pressing for, would not upset America’s ethnical balance: “It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs…,” it ended up altering the immigration pattern and opening doors to non-European nations, thus changing forever the intrinsic tissue of American society.

As we celebrate America’s Independence Day, it’s noteworthy that the percentage reduction of original American voters, might have been a defining factor in the election of someone like the current president, who among other goals, seems to be keen in opening further our borders to endlessly increasing numbers of immigrants who, regardless of their skin color, are bringing in a whole new texture of culture, 100% foreign to what America’s origins were as its wonderful adventure began back in 1776.

As America celebrates her 235th Independence Day, she finds herself under siege from all kinds of enemies: The known and the unknown; the external and the internal enemy.

The external enemy is that whose goal is to expand so much throughout the world with its most coveted prize: our land.

…

One Administration after the other has kept the immigration-invasion under the radar, hiding behind the First Amendment to the Constitution that stands for freedom of religion” in our country.

However, the First Amendment does not stipulate that “freedom of religion” must be upheld even if the followers of a religion have perpetrated an attack on, and massacred, our civilian population in times of peace, especially if that religion incites to the destruction of our country, our people, and our values.

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Massachusetts Republican Wants Rape Victims To Stay In The Shadows If They're Undocumented Immigrants

Submitted by Brian Tashman on June 8, 2011 - 2:56pm

In a speech berating Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s opposition to a controversial federal immigration program, a Republican state legislator said that illegal immigrants who were victims of rape should be afraid to come forward. State Rep. Ryan Fattman brushed aside the claims of immigrant advocates that the program, which would allow local police officers to refer undocumented immigrants they arrest for any reason to federal authorities, would damage the relationship between law enforcement and immigrant communities or lead to racial profiling.

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that Fattman even claimed that undocumented immigrants who are victims of rape should be afraid to talk to the police:

Mr. Fattman dismissed concerns of some law enforcement officials — cited by the governor — who said using local police to enforce immigration laws could discourage reporting of crime by victims who are illegal immigrants.

Asked if he would be concerned that a woman without legal immigration status was raped and beaten as she walked down the street might be afraid to report the crime to police, Mr. Fattman said he was not worried about those implications.

“My thought is that if someone is here illegally, they should be afraid to come forward,” Mr. Fattman said. “If you do it the right way, you don’t have to be concerned about these things,” he said referring to obtaining legal immigration status.

…

“If they are here illegally, they have committed a crime,” he said. However, under federal law, illegal status is usually a civil offense.

“My philosophy is a little different,” Mr. Fattman said. He said he believes all illegal immigrants should be deported, including the children of immigrants who came with their parents to the U.S.

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ALIPAC: Democrats Want To Recruit Gay Immigrants To "Bring Down" America

Submitted by Brian Tashman on April 26, 2011 - 9:02am

Earlier this month House Democrats reintroduced the Uniting American Families Act, which “would grant same-sex couples the same residency rights currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples under U.S. immigration law.” Such legislation is unsurprisingly despised by the Religious Right, with Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council calling it an “an assault on the definition of family,” adding, “I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society.”

Religious Right groups appear to be allying with hard-line anti-immigrant leaders like William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), who tells OneNewsNow that since American culture “has been predominantly European Christian” and “Christianity preaches against sodomy,” Democrats in Congress are “targeting” gay and lesbian immigrants for “importation” in order to realize their plan of destroying American culture:

"Targeting anybody for importation into the country based on their sexuality doesn't sound like something that Congress should be messing with at all," contends William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration (ALIPAC).

But he says this legislation fits right into the left's agenda of changing the traditional values that made America great.

"They're looking to bring in anybody challenging the established culture inside the United States that they want to bring down," Gheen suggests. "And though the majority culture of the United States for the last 200 years has been predominately European Christian...they are looking for anybody that would take issue with that. And, of course, Christianity preaches against sodomy."

The ALIPAC president concludes that the traditions that made America great have clearly fallen uner [sic] siege by the "do as thou will" crowd.

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