Watch A clip from The Undocumented on PBS. See more from Independent Lens. Please see update below. I have very little to go on with the press release below from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement concerning the “apparent suicide” at the Eloy Detention Center by a 24 year-old Guatemalan woman…

During the uproar over the 2010 shooting death of South Phoenix resident Danny Rodriguez by former Phoenix Police Officer Richard Chrisman, I often wondered why two Phoenix cops could not subdue one unarmed man without resorting to lethal force. See also: -Richard Chrisman Report Released by Phoenix Police Department: Read…

I’ve been thinking about sending Sheriff Joe Arpaio a note expressing my deep concern for his health, and suggesting that he resign before the MCSO ends up being Phoenix’s version of Weekend at Bernie’s, with Joe in the starring role. See also: -Joe Arpaio Recall Claims 200,359 Valid Signatures with…

It’s a requirement in Arizona, more than in any other state in the Union, that politicians be shameless hypocrites. And Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is no piker in this regard. See also: -DPS Officer’s Pursuit of DREAMer Lands Woman in Stir for Six Months -Bill Montgomery’s Deaf Victim Diana…

If you need an illustration of Arizona’s diseased “attrition through enforcement” mentality, look no further than the case of Solaguahire Zenil, a local DREAMer, who is currently in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. See also: -The MCAO Follows ICE’s Blueprint for Separating Immigrant Families According to her…

Respect Arizona, the group attempting to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office, may yet prove the naysayers wrong. At a press conference Monday in downtown Phoenix, about 20 members of the group gathered to announce that, so far, they have collected 200,359 valid signatures to recall Sheriff Joe. See also:…

I’m heartened to see local Democrats unabashedly supporting the effort to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio, which is spearheaded by Respect Arizona, and assisted by Citizens for a Better Arizona, headed by everyone’s favorite kick-ass activist Randy Parraz. See also: -Joe Arpaio Recall Boasts 169,283 Valid Signatures, 166,034 More Needed by…

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is gettin’ real popular with some in the pro-immigration reform crowd. Never mind that he collaborates with Sheriff Joe Arpaio in prosecuting undocumented workers, while ignoring those who hire them. See also: -Bill Montgomery’s Victims Rot in Jail, While Arizona Republic Praises His Hypocrisy on…

Now, a news flash from inside the stultifying atmosphere of the Arizona Republic’s editorial bubble: Hypocrisy is a good thing. Particularly as practiced by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. See also: -Joe Arpaio, Bill Montgomery Lose Again: Undocumented Worker Found “Not Guilty” -Bill Montgomery’s Deaf Victim Diana Blanco Honored by…

Anyone who actually would be proud to be the great grandson of John Philip Sousa, a third rate 19th Century composer of marching tunes whose music could bore you right into a coma, must have a screw loose. See also: -Joe Arpaio Takes Full Advantage of Scary Box in Mail:…

Kudos to Puente and Las Cafeteras for this beautiful, moving message to Diana Blanco Only the crassest and cruelest of individuals will be able to watch the video above minus a moist eye. In it Diana Blanco, the young deaf woman, whose mother, grandfather and grandmother were arrested in Sheriff…

Miguel Angel Morales was not supposed win Wednesday in Maricopa County Superior Court. Charged with ID theft and forgery after he was arrested in Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s raid on Glendale’s United Construction in September, Morales has spent more than six months in Arpaio’s notorious jails, refusing to plead guilty while…

Arizona has a different reality for the undocumented than in most parts of the country. So there are different demands the pro-immigrant community should make on the U.S. Congress in regards to comprehensive immigration reform, if any positive effect is to be felt soon in Sand Land. See also: -Jan…

Here’s an oddity: Talmage Pearce, nephew of recalled ex-state Senate President Russell Pearce and a stalwart defender of the Pearce clan, has been appointed to sit on the City of Mesa’s Human Relations Advisory Board. On April 1, the Mesa City Council unanimously approved Mayor Scott Smith’s memo recommending Talmage,…

Close to 1,000 people jammed the Painter’s Union Hall in Phoenix Thursday to hear the news that the recall of Sheriff Joe Arpaio so far has scored more than half the signatures required to force a recall election on the octogenarian despot. See also: -Joe Arpaio Recall Has “Less Than…

A brilliant little gem from the makers of 9500 Liberty Believe it or not, once upon a time, Republicans were the ones fighting for the expansion of voting rights. Okay, so that was more than a century ago, following the Civil War. Still, it’s interesting to watch this short video…

As a tease to an event tonight, Respect Arizona, the group seeking to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office, has announced that it has fewer than 200,000 valid signatures left to score, with less than two months before its May 30 deadline. See also: -Joe Arpaio Recall: A Chance to…

When the Goldwater Institute isn’t “lending” $1.9 million to some fatcat on its board or suing the state government over a fish-foot-sucking cosmetic practice, it’s arguing against the evils of expanding Arizona’s Medicaid program so as to cover hundreds of thousands of poor people and pump billions in the state’s…

Gilman and I get to know some of our fellow Sand Land-ers and reconnect with old pals like Buffalo Rick… There’s nothing more fun on a mild, sunny day in Arizona than getting out and about and talkin’ to ordinary folks. See also: -Jim Carrey, Right on Gun Nuts, Fox…