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.
Never mind that he is holding mothers, fathers, grandpas, and grandmas nonbondable in Arpaio's gulags, so as to coerce pleas that will make them deportable and barred from re-entering the country for 10 years or more.
Never mind that he looks the other way as white college kids guilty of the same crime of forgery or using another's identity -- to score booze instead of jobs -- are hit with misdemeanors.
With a national immigration reform bill on the way, there are some local groups and panels so devoid of conscience that they're welcoming this Janus-faced Mack the Knife with open arms, forgiving or forgetting his victimization of a whole class of people.
Below are a few of the events where Monty will be selling himself as some sort of moderate on immigration.
After all, he's endorsed the SANE immigration plan, backed by a number of progressive groups in the Valley, so he can't be all bad, can he?
I'll answer that question with a question, one I've asked before: If Arpaio were tomorrow to sign onto the SANE plan, while vowing to continue his immigrant-hunting raids, would these august panels and organizations be inviting the sheriff to rub shoulders with them?
If the answer is "no," why are they rewarding one of Arpaio's collaborators in persecution with praise, and giving him a seat at the table?
This is exactly what Monty's been waiting so long for, biding his time, giving lip service to the idea of CIR while not lifting a finger to affect reality on the ground.
Now, he's ready to cash in, and receive all the plaudits, the applause and the adulation he believes he deserves.
Maybe you can buy the big lie that Monty has displayed some sort of courage with his stand.
I cannot, because I know differently.
I've been in county superior court to watch the undocumented grandmas and mothers shackled because of Montgomery's policies. I've visited them in jail, and I've seen their children and grandchildren weep.
I also remember all too well Montgomery's chanting "U.S.A, U.S.A" on the Arizona-U.S. border, at the ranch of nativist anti-Semite Glenn Spencer, a man who once played host to minutewoman Shawna Forde.
This was in 2010, when Monty was running against then interim County Attorney Rick Romley in the GOP primary, which Monty won with the assistance of his sugar daddy Arpaio.
Arpaio funded more than $500,000 in attack ads to slime Romley as pro-amnesty. And it worked.
Hence, Monty's appeals to his fellow nativists, while paying a visit to Spencer's acreage.
Spencer's former pal Forde now sits on death row, convicted of murder in 2011 of nine year-old Brisenia Flores and Flores' father in a botched home-invasion robbery.
Montgomery? Like the groups and persons who now fete him, he has no shame. None.
And as far as I'm concerned, both Monty and they deserve only contempt.
Arizona Leaders Convene to Support Comprehensive Immigration Reform Phoenix -- As the Senate prepares to introduce a comprehensive immigration bill this week, the National Immigration Forum's Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform (BBB) initiative and Arizonans for Immigration Reform will convene a roundtable discussion with key Arizona faith, law enforcement and business leaders. Arizona leaders will discuss the overwhelming economic and social reasons to engage on the issue of immigration. The state has long been a hotbed for the immigration debate and this event will engage the issue of reform at a critical time and from a unique perspective. WHAT: Arizona leaders in faith, law enforcement and business will convene to discuss the need for comprehensive immigration reform WHO: Bill Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney Jack Harris, Former Chief of Police, Phoenix Police Department Rev. Warren Stewart, First Institutional Baptist Church Glenn Hamer, President and CEO, Arizona Chamber of Commerce Nan Stockholm-Walden, Farmers Investment Company Barry Asmus, Moderator and Senior Economist at National Center for Policy Analysis WHEN: Wednesday, April 17, 2 p.m. Pacific Time WHERE: The offices of Gordon C. James Public Relations, 4715 N. 32nd St, Phoenix, AZ 85018 For questions, please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].
April 19-- "Immigration Reform", a panel discussion on federal immigration reform, moderated by former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Eight, Arizona PBS Studios, 555 N. Central Ave., sixth floor of ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism. The event will be televised and include and introduction by ASU President Michael Crow. Panelists include Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery; Daniel R. Ortega Jr., attorney and immediate past chairman of the National Council of La Raza; and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith--all proponents of the SANE proposal for immigration reform. Others on the panel: Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President/CEO Glenn Hamer; Immigration Works President/CEO Tamar Jacoby; and Lisa Magana, associate professor at ASU's School of Trans-border Studies. Guests must be in their seats by 11:15 a.m. SOLD OUT
April 30 -- "Valley Leadership Community Dialogue Series: Immigration Reform," 6 to 7 p.m. at the Arizona Community Foundation's Debi Bisgrove Community Philanthropy Center, 2201 E. Camelback Road, Suite 405B, Phoenix. The panel, moderated by Marty Shultz, includes Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery; State Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa; attorney and immediate past-chair of the National Council of La Raza, Daniel R. Ortega, Jr.; and Real Arizona Coalition co-founders Lisa Urias and Denise D. Resnik. For details: http://www.valleyleadership.org/news-events/current-events-activities.aspx
