In his first deposition, Arpaio revealed that he maintained his own, private, immigration file. He had not turned over the file for review to the plaintiffs who'd sued his office.
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What Sheriff Joe Arpaio craves most: media attention — on his own terms.
Dennis Gilman
An MCSO deputy in a ski mask at an immigration sweep.
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He claimed that his attorneys had not instructed him against destroying or hiding evidence (never mind what he should have known after decades of litigation.)
Arpaio's conduct was so outrageous that the judge ordered the sheriff to turn over the file and sit for a second deposition after the file had been reviewed. But even the judge's order does not capture the contempt Arpaio and his attorneys displayed.
One month before Arpaio's first deposition, opposing counsel filed a motion for sanctions because the Sheriff's Office had blatantly destroyed evidence.
The plaintiff's motion was the legal version of a loud honking horn. Arpaio's lawyer, Tim Casey, responded to the November motion by telling the court that the sheriff's in-house attorney had forgotten to issue a critical "document hold" warning.
But in December, a month after Casey's awkward alibi, Arpaio claimed he still never had been warned.
You can believe that the sheriff had wildly incompetent lawyers or you can believe that Arpaio lied. You cannot believe this was an innocent event.
A subsequent examination of the sheriff's file showed that residents of Maricopa County wrote to him regarding the presence of Mexicans in greater Phoenix.
Citizens saw day laborers. They saw people with brown skin. They heard Spanish spoken.
And what the letters reveal is enormous anxiety about Hispanics:
• "I always see numerous Mexicans standing around in that area . . . These Mexicans swarmed around my car, and I was so scared and alarmed . . . I was never so devastated in my life regarding these circumstances . . . Although the Mexicans at this location may be within their legal right to be there . . . I merely bring this matter to your attention in order that all public agencies, FBI, etc., may be kept informed of these horrific circumstances."
• "I would love to see an immigrant sweep conducted in Surprise, specifically at the intersection of Grand and Greenway. The area contains dozens of day workers attempting to flag down motorists seven days a week."
• "The Mesa police chief drags his feet and stalls . . . the head of the Mesa police union is a Hispanic."
• "As a retiree in Sun City, formerly from Minnesota, I am a fan of yours and what you are doing to rid the area of illegal immigrants . . . when I was in McDonald's at Bell Road and Boswell (next to the Chase Bank) this noon, there was not an employee in sight, or within hearing, who spoke English as a first language — to my dismay. From the staff at the registers to the staff back in the kitchen area, all I heard was Spanish — except when they haltingly spoke to a customer. You might want to check this out."
And Sheriff Arpaio did check it out.
None of the Hispanics described in the letters had broken the law. It is not against the law to speak Spanish or work as a day laborer.
Arpaio nonetheless gave the correspondence to Deputy Chief Brian Sands. Federal Judge Snow determined that raids and roundups quickly followed. Hispanics were rousted because white people were uncomfortable.
When the Justice Department and the Arizona ACLU contended that Sheriff Joe Arpaio committed the worst pattern of racial profiling in the history of the United States, they faced a serious opponent: the federal government.
In April 2008, Matthew Allen, newly appointed special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Arizona, said of the sheriff, "He has stayed within the bounds of the agreement."
Five months later, ICE audited Arpaio's 287(g) program without issue. This followed an audit that Arpaio passed in 2007.
In 2009, Vincent Picard, Phoenix spokesman for ICE, again stated that Arpaio had not violated protocol.
In fact, Arpaio's attorney, Tim Casey, intends to call at least six witnesses from the Phoenix and Washington offices of ICE when Melendres goes to trial.
So you see, when Assistant Attorney General Perez announced that despite the sheriff's felonies, the federal government intended to "collaborate" with him instead of indicting him, Perez merely was acknowledging the collaboration that had been underway for years.
Recall, too, that Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano oversees ICE. And she, as governor of Arizona, was critical in getting Arpaio and his deputies certified under the 287(g) program.
Arpaio's collaboration with ICE is as fraudulent as the one Perez announced.
ICE's endorsement of the sheriff's immigration sweeps is, at a minimum, corrupt.
All the roundups begin with deputies pulling over vehicles for minor traffic violations. The traffic stops are the pretext to interrogate driver and passengers and demand proof of citizenship.
ICE's own guidelines state: "The 287(g) program is not designed to allow state and local agencies to perform random street operations" and "is not designed to impact issues such as excessive occupancy and day labor activities . . . Police can only use 287(g) authority when people are taken into custody as a result of violating state or local CRIMINAL [emphasis added] law. Police cannot randomly ask for a person's immigration status or conduct immigration raids" and "[officers may only] use their authority when dealing with someone who is suspected of a state crime that is more than a traffic offense."
