www.FederationofStates.org - May 27, 2006. Maricopa County, Arizona (Phoenix). Sheriff Joe Arpaio has the answer to the problem of illegal immigrants in the United States. The answer is not necessarily a fence, nor even the National Guard operating in a non-enforcement mode. And it's certainly not amnesty. The sheriff's answer is that they are criminal violators of our laws (or the ordinances of his County), thus they must be arrested and incarcerated.

This spring Sheriff Arpaio, serving his third elected term and enjoying an 85% approval rating among the voters, issued orders to his deputies to arrest undocumented workers.

Regarding the issue of bed space to house arrests of illegal aliens, Maricopa County has 1200 convicts in tents surrounded by barbed wire and guards. The more they arrest the more tents they can erect. Arpaio stated: "If our troops in Desert Storm could live in tents, then aren’t they good enough for sentenced inmates?" These convicted illegal aliens will serve up to 2 years of incarceration before being returned to Mexico and during their incarceration they will work on chain gangs earning much of their upkeep. Not all illegal aliens in Arizona are from Mexico, but well over 90% are and nearly all of them arrived through Mexico. About one out of ten workers in Maricopa county are undocumented immigrants and are subject to arrest.

The county attorney interpreted a new state anti-smuggling law to include arresting illegal immigrants who had smuggled themselves into the United States. His message to the illegals is essentially this: "Stay out of Maricopa County if you are an undocumented alien worker, because I'm the sheriff here."

Sheriff Arpaio’s deputies are backed up by a volunteer posse of three thousand two hundred (3,200) men and women. He can sign up thousands more if need be. Citing the failures of Federal immigration controls, Arpaio says "if these illegals are caught by immigration officers they get a free ride back to Mexico in air conditioned buses." No doubt some of those returned to Mexico visit family and friends and then return to sneak across our borders again.

When illgals are caught of Maricopa County deputies, instead of a free ride to Mexico, they get a ride to the tent city work camp of the county where they will stay for up to 2 years before being returned to the Mexican border. Arpaio tells folks, "We should have done this years ago".

Many other states, particularly in the South, have passed various laws aimed at curtailing illegal immigration or the hiring of such including fines for employer violators.

A Sheriff in most counties is elected by the people of his county and thus is responsive to them and works for their protection. Such Sheriffs do not answer to Federal nor State officials, but to the people of his county with assistance from the County Attorney, the County Commissioners and most importantly, support from the voting public.