Protesters
held a rally in front of the Wells Fargo Center in downtown LA today,
demanding that the bank stop doing business with an Arizona sheriff,
who is accused of racially profiling Latinos.
Promoting himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff", Maricopa County's
Joseph Arpaio maintains a strong approval rating in his home state -
about 75 to 80 percent - especially among older residents, who have
hailed him a hero for his controversial policies.
But these days, opposition has been mounting against the four-term
sheriff, whose actions against Latino and immigrant communities are
sparking protests in San Francisco, Los Angeles, El Paso, Austin, Boston and Chicago.
A boisterous group of about 25 protesters carrying banners that read "Evict Sheriff Joe Arpaio"
formed a picket line in front of the Wells Fargo Center on Grand Street
this morning.
Veronica Federovsky, spokeswoman with the National
Day Laborer Organizing Network, said demonstators are demanding that
Wells Fargo cut ties with the Maricopa County Sheriffs Department,
which pays $675,000 a year to rent office space from the bank.
"They are hosting somebody that is violating human rights," she
said. "They need to consider what they are doing and stop doing
business with Arpaio."
Since March, Arpaio has made immigration
sweeps his top priority, conducting eight sweeps in six cities. Federal
agents have deputized 160 sheriffs to help conduct the raids.
"What
makes Arpaio so different from other officials is that he has a whole
army behind him," said United Steel Workers organizer, Carlos Prensa.
"He keeps signing all kinds of agreements with (Immigration Customs and
Enforcement) to make his deputies, so they can go and arrest people."
Arizona Republic reporter, JJ Hensley, said Sheriff Arpaio is also changing the way law enforcement agents
conduct the raids.
"His deputies will go into a certain area, and
operate essentially a DUI operation, where they are looking for the
most minor infraction to pull someone over so they can start some sort
of process to determine whether that person is driving drunk," he said.
"In this case, they are using the same methodology to determine if
someone has come to the country illegally."
So far, Arpaio's
"crime-suppression operations" have resulted in more than 150 arrests.
Of that number, 73 immigrants suspected of being in the country
illegally were also detained.
The operations has drawn sharp
criticisms from lawmakers and civil rights groups. Phoenix mayor, Phil Gordon, along with seven members of the state's Latino Legislative Caucus - is asking the Justice Department to launch a civil-rights investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, alleging that deputies are violating people's rights by checking cars and pedestrians looking for undocumented immigrants.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund is also
filing a federal lawsuit against the MCSO for detaining legal residents
as well as American citizens for long periods while their immigration
status is checked.
Prensa calls Arpaio's approach racial profiling.
"He's basically a racist," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a mom,
or whoever. He's just attacking you for your color."
In the absence
of comprehensive immigration reform, Arizona Republic reporter JJ Hensely said there are likely to be other law enforcement departments
across the country who will mimick Arpaio's tactics when it comes to
immigration matters. "ICE has used that agreement with the sheriff's
department here as a model, as they roll out that agreement to other
agencies," he said.
Arpaio is already receiving push back from other Arizona officials, including Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris who said he is sinking too much of the state's money and resources into immigration raids.
Prensa agreed and said the sheriff should be concentrating his
efforts elsewhere. "When you talk about police and sheriffs, we want
them there, but for fighting crime. We've got plenty of that in our
poor neighborhoods."
In the meantime, Prensa said organizers will
continue to protest against Arpaio until he ends his practices against
immigrant communities.
Rallies around the country to oppose the
sheriff's raids are planned for October 12.
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