COLUMNA de AZTLAN

By CHRIS KAHN Associated Press

PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered the state to end an anti-illegal immigration contract with a high-profile sheriff Tuesday so she can pay for a larger effort to track down thousands of felons around Arizona.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday criticized the governor's decision as a maneuver to thwart his efforts against illegal immigrants.

"Dirty politics are at work right now," Arpaio said at a news conference.

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But his raids and sweeps of illegal immigrants in Phoenix and nearby Guadalupe have drawn protests from community leaders and civil liberties advocates. Arpaio, a Republican, has also been criticized for letting thousands of felony warrants go unserved while he chased illegal immigrants.

Arizona lawmakers find out the hard way what happens when you implement hardline immigration policies without taking into consideration the economic consequences...."Whoops, we have no workers"

AZ lawmaker, Pearce, the fat guy who looks like the rooster on the Corn Fleis box, has sponsored legislation (SB1108 AZ) that would, in effect, outlaw student groups that are supposedly race based in AZ state funded schools and universities. Presumably, student groups like MEChA, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan would be the main target.

Pearce, who looks like he might be insulin deprived has been on the Lou Dobbs comedy hour with a smirk from ear to ear gloating about about how difficult he has made it for the poor and low resource people of AZ.

Following Pearce's legislation, Skull and Bones, a Yale (New Haven, Connecticut) based, male only, student sorority, would probably not be affected since it is not "race based." The irony, of course, is that they are well known to be the most racists student group in the U.S. Not allowing Jews, Indigenous peoples, blacks or Asians to join.

by Matthew Benson, The Arizona Republic

Arizona public schools would be barred from any teachings considered counter to democracy or Western civilization under a proposal endorsed Wednesday by a legislative panel.

Additionally, the measure would prohibit students of the state's universities and community colleges from forming groups based in whole or part on the race of their members, such as the Black Business Students Association at Arizona State University or Native Americans United at Northern Arizona University. Those groups would be forbidden from operating on campus.

The brainchild of Rep. Russell Pearce, the measure appeared as an amendment to Senate Bill 1108, which originally would have made minor changes to the state's Homeland Security advisory councils. The House Appropriations Committee approved the new proposal on a 9-6 vote.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon calls for FBI Probe of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa, County, AZ saying"

"[A] pattern and practice of conduct that includes discriminatory harassment, improper stops, searches and arrests."

During the past month, sheriff's deputies and posse members, about 200 strong, have gone into neighborhoods with high Hispanic populations, citing drivers for routine traffic violations and detaining suspected illegal immigrants when federally trained deputies encounter them.

The actions have sparked an outcry from civil-rights and immigrant-rights advocates and emboldened Arpaio's supporters.

Gordon's call for an investigation seemed certain to escalate a growing conflict between Phoenix City Hall and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office over how law-enforcement resources should be used to enforce immigration laws

Letter details sweeps

The AZ chapter of the Anti-Defamation League has asked the Department of Justice to investigate the eccentric Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ.

"We are deeply troubled by allegations of profiling that have surfaced recently in the media and from leaders of the Latino community," Straus and Bodney wrote in a joint statement. "Numbers of people have been detained during the 'sweeps', but not all of them have been found to be undocumented. This raises serious questions about the process and its effect upon the community."

The chapter's executive director, Bill Straus, and the chairman of its board, David Bodney, said recent criticisms of the sheriff deserved a full investigation.

AZCentral.com