President Barack Obama today told a representative of a national Latino group that Arizona's is not the model the rest of the country should mirror when it comes to handling illegal immigration.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio responded by issuing a press release saying that not only are his methods of enforcing illegal immigration laws working, but that the president should look to America's self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff" for some advice on immigration.
Arpaio, as he often does, points to his days with the Drug Enforcement Administration (over 20 years ago) as the reason why Obama should have a "personal conversation" with him about his illegal immigration enforcement methods.
"I enforce the law, including state and federal law, because I took an oath of office as an elected sheriff to do so. The president of the United States should understand that and applaud me for that effort, not criticize me," Arpaio says.
Obama shied away from questions posed by AOL Latino Senior Editor Gabriel Lerner about the status of the Department of Justice's investigation into Arpaio's alleged misdeeds, which has now taken nearly three years, with no end in sight.
See video of Obama's comments below.
