How do u like Sheriff Joe Arpaio approach to immigration what if every city had this ?

A 鈥渃oncentrated crackdown鈥?on illegal immigrants started Friday night in Maricopa County. Sheriff Joe Arpaio announced he鈥檚 dispatched more than 200 deputies and posse members to saturate valley cities and roadways known to be corridors for human smuggling.

East Valley hot spots include Bush Highway, U.S. Highway 60 and 鈥渁ny major highway,鈥?said deputy chief Brian Sands.

Arpaio said he鈥檚 also opening a hotline for tipsters to report suspected illegal immigrants.

Arpaio said the program is comprehensive and controversial, but that it鈥檚 constitutional.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to go out on a street corner and round up people because they look like they鈥檙e from a foreign country,鈥?Arpaio said Friday.

He said it鈥檚 nothing like Chandler鈥檚 infamous 1997 鈥渞oundup,鈥?in which police officers swept the city in search of illegal immigrants.

He added that no one has complained about racial profiling since his deputies began detaining illegal immigrants.

Arpaio said his deputies have already arrested and jailed about 614 illegal immigrants on felony charges since the Arizona law against human smuggling passed in March 2006.

The deputies鈥?strategies for the crackdown aren鈥檛 necessarily different from those they鈥檝e been using already to target immigrants who have likely employed a human smuggler to help them enter the country.

But they鈥檒l have greater resources and more manpower with which to work.

Deputies will use SWAT, aviation and electronic surveillance, night vision and high-tech weaponry to target vehicles commonly used to move large numbers of illegal immigrants, Arpaio said. If such a vehicle is stopped for speeding, for example, anyone inside the vehicle who鈥檚 determined by deputies to be an illegal immigrant will be arrested and jailed.

Arpaio stressed the need for probable cause to arrest a suspect. That means a vehicle must have a fake license plate, be speeding, run a red light, or break some other law before deputies can pull over the vehicle and question its occupants.

The crackdown, which has no end date, will utilize 160 deputies and officers who鈥檝e been trained by federal agents to enforce immigration law.

Of this group, 15 officers will be devoted strictly to the human smuggling unit funded by the state. To fill the personnel void this unit has created in the ranks, the sheriff said his office is recruiting officers from local and national police agencies to join his office through lateral transfers.

To further add to his numbers, the sheriff will deputize 64 federal immigration (ICE) agents on Monday, which will enable them to act as both federal and local law enforcement agents.

鈥淲e are quickly becoming a full-fledged anti-illegal immigration agency,鈥?Arpaio said.

Arpaio also announced a hotline for citizens to call with information or evidence about illegal immigrants. He plans to advertise the hotline by posting its phone number on the sides of sheriff鈥檚 trucks.

He is unsure off how his office will be able to use the tips provided. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an intelligence gathering tool,鈥?Arpaio said.

The hotline number is: (602) 876-4154.

So all of Graham鈥檚, McCain鈥檚, Kennedy鈥檚, Lott鈥檚, Specter鈥檚, Bush鈥檚, Chertoff鈥檚, Tony Snow鈥檚 鈥榳e need new laws; the old ones don鈥檛 work鈥? is a load of PR crap.

Well! We really already knew that.

I think it is a marvelous idea, one that should be implemented in every city and state in the union!

What Sheriff Joe Arpaio is doing is unlawful and racially motivated. Even his own family thinks he's nasty and absolutely disgusting. You should hear what his "friends" say about him behind his back. Expect a plethora of lawsuits - Mr. Sheriff!!! Report It

AMENDED ANSWER.

Actually, I stand corrected. Some of the things Arpaio is doing are borderline (pun intended) illegal under federal laws.

But it appears he is making a reasonable effort to comply with the requirements that states not enforce immigration laws, and instead finding ways to enforce state laws that provide a comparable net effect.

And the deputizing ICE agents is brilliant, since it gets around the problem of enforcement of federal laws quite nicely, since those agents are legally entitled to enforce federal laws.

So, kudos to a creative and well-thought out way to address the problem without making the same mistake many other towns and cities have done.

It is a GREAT idea, someone has to protect the CITIZENS

If he was running i would vote for him he has the courage need to deal with this travesty.

My neighborhood will quiet down quite a bit now.

I think it's great!

I wish all US cities would start doing that. Deport the illegals!

It is up to local officals to deal with the problem; because we all know on a Federal level nothing is being done to enforce our laws.

I like it. If every city did this we could give this country back to its citizens.

I think its laughable. "He is unsure of how his office will be able to use the tips provided" ha ha, typical of his publicity seeking, bloated tactics. I am SURE I saw a group of snowbirds singing to Mariachi music this morning..and they were really tan, hummmm?