It’s official: Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio has reached an all-time low—or high, depending on what your politics are. Despite the fact that he currently has two ongoing lawsuits, one of which was initiated by the federal government itself, the man is up to his old antics once again—or rather, he never stopped.
The same day that President Obama announced a policy that aims to protect young and undocumented immigrants from deportation, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office arrested a 6-year old girl only because she is suspected of coming to the U.S. illegally. The Department of Homeland Security issued long ago a memo (known as the Morton Memo) directing immigration officials to not target immigrants whose only crime is having no legal status, and yet Arpaio’s team continues to carry forth its anti-immigrant agenda with blatant disregard for directives that come directly from the federal government. It seems that the Sheriff’s behavior has gone unchecked for so long that he now can’t stop even as everyone is onto him. Is there any line currently in existence that this lawless Arizonian won’t cross?
Last week, Arpaio told ABC15 that his office still plans to continue arresting undocumented immigrants with the same fervor that has made him a nationally infamous law enforcement figure. “I think people from Mexico are now going to feel, ‘Hey come on in and we’ll get by with it.’ But it won’t happen in this county. They will still be arrested,” Arpaio retorted with a few hard-to-swallow words that gave us a wide glimpse into his skewed and unrealistic form of reasoning. While much concrete information on the six-year old girl is currently unavailable, she is believed to be from El Salvador, but formal inquiries are expected to be made public soon. Although the sheriff is probably too blind to see, this case marks a definitive low-point for the man and he should be held to account for his misguided and heinous behavior.