For once, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he shouldn't be the center of attention.
Six young people -- the oldest 23 years old -- were arrested by Phoenix police Tuesday during a protest at Trevor Browne High School, rallying against Arpaio's methods of immigration enforcement.
To those six people -- and around 150 others who were present -- Arpaio says immigration policies have absolutely nothing to do with him.
"If these students/demonstrators have a concern over the immigration laws they should bring those concerns to Congress, State Legislators, or the White House and not use this Sheriff as their poster boy," Arpaio says.
By the way, Arpaio wants everyone to know his boys in beige bagged 54 brown folks last week.
For the second time this week, Arpaio notes the MCSO picked up 54 suspected illegal immigrants in three operations spanning a week, between that cockfighting raid, the raid on a vitamin shop, and another event in which deputies arrested six people in an alleged human smuggling plot.
Still, he claims he shouldn't be the focus for people complaining about the immigrant roundups.
"Sheriff Arpaio says he will continue to enforce the Federal and State Immigration Laws regardless of demonstrators, activists, some politicians, and the Federal Government who have concerns over his enforcements of the laws," the sheriff's office says.
Those 150 youngsters, this joint called the Department of Justice, and countless other people tend to think that Arpaio's immigration-enforcement methods aren't exactly the best, but Arpaio's still playing the I'm just enforcing the laws card.
The four adults rested at Trevor Browne the other day were released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody yesterday (the two juveniles were reportedly released as well), as an ICE statement said the youngsters "do not fall under ICE's enforcement priorities."
