http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1158686An Arizona sheriff thinks the Obama administration is intent on pursuing anything that moves in Arizona's defense against illegal immigration.
The U.S. Justice Department filed another lawsuit last week in Arizona, this time against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for failing to hand over records in a civil rights investigation. The suit claims Arpaio, who is on the front lines in the battle against illegal immigration, has not cooperated with the DOJ's probe of alleged discrimination by his office. The Justice Department gave Arpaio until August 17 to surrender documents it first asked for 15 months ago.
The lawsuit marks the latest action against Arizona by the federal government, which earlier sued to stop the state's strict immigration law that required police officers to question people about their immigration status. Arpaio decides the Justice Department's actions amount to harassment.
"We seem to be the target for the White House or the administration to go after Arizona when the people support our fight against illegal immigration," he laments. "And unfortunately, Washington, DC, has their own agenda, and they're using Arizona as a whipping boy."
Sheriff Larry DeverLarry Dever is serving his fourth term as sheriff of Cochise County, which, as a border county, is part of the route of illegal aliens into the U.S. He concurs with Arpaio's assessment.
"The federal government is just pursuing everything that moves in Arizona right now, trying to use the bully pulpit," he agrees. "What's a sheriff to do? We're sitting down here, we're being run over [and] our communities are being trashed by criminal aliens. Now they're trying to punish anybody and everybody that's been a voice, and Joe certainly has been one of those."
Like Arpaio, Dever and other Arizona border sheriffs have also been the targeted by suits in the wake of the passage of the controversial S.B. 1070.
Topic: Arizona: Obama's 'whipping boy' (Read 401 times)