Sheriff Arpaio Has Got To Go......

I heard about this Sheriff on 99.5Fm this morning and just wanted to share with you about this injustice happening here on our very soil. I am Latina and this issue is very scary to the entire Latino community. Please make sure you sign the petition below. I think no matter what your opinions are about undocumented immigrants in the US, I believe they do not need to be treated the same as a criminals. In fact, these people in Maricopa, AZ are getting treated worse than a murderer. 

It's very important that people speak up against such injustices, even if they do not affect them directly. As a human being other's suffering is just as unacceptable as our own. 

Would love to know what you think....

Democracy Now from Producciones Cimarrón on Vimeo.




Top Reasons To FIGHT Against Arpaio....

1:With Arpaio, real law enforcement takes a backseat to publicity stunts.
As an example in one of Arpaio's latest stunts, and at a time when there were 12 unsolved execution-style murders in the county, he staged a massive prostitution round-up publicity stunt.

2: Millions of tax dollars have been wasted on lawsuits
Lawsuits brought against Arpaio by employees, former employees, inmates, and the families of dead inmates have cost the county millions and Arpaio has misled the public about the cost to taxpayers of lawsuits.

http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/090311_080001wuc.MP3 (go to 1/2 way down on the time bar)

3. He has a tent city where he keeps prisoners in outside tents and it gets to about 130 degrees.

4. Does Crime Suppresion sweeps where he goes into latino neighborhoods and starts asking people on the street for documentations. Anyone that looks latino gets harassed.

5. On February 4, 2009, more than 200 Latino immigrants dressed in black and white prison stripes were shackled and marched through the streets of Phoenix from a county jail to "Tent City," a detainment camp where Phoenix Sheriff Joe Arpaio was segregating immigrants from the general inmate population.According to Southern Poverty Law Center's Hate Watch, marchers were guarded by "at least 50 Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) deputies, wearing body armor and combat fatigues, armed with shotguns and automatic rifles. At least two canine units were present; a Sheriff's Department helicopter hovered overheard." All this to escort a group in which, for many, their sole crime was lacking documentation.

sign the petition to stop him:
http://americasvoiceonline.org/page/content/sheriff

copy, print and sign the letter below and send it to the US Attorney General

 

Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you direct your office to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, for gross civil rights violations in the name of immigration enforcement.

No official is above the law, and yet Sheriff Arpaio has engaged in racial profiling and civil rights abuses for years with impunity.

The case against the publicity-hungry Sheriff is well documented and horrifying. Joe Arpaio has made a mockery of our justice system by:

Relying heavily on racial profiling and double standards: routinely stopping drivers for minor violations and only forcing "Latino-looking" drivers to produce Social Security cards.
Engaging in sidewalk “crime sweeps” in low-crime communities – detaining those who cannot prove their citizenship status on the spot, while allowing dangerous felons to roam free.
Promoting horrifying detention conditions that have been condemned by health agencies and human rights organizations.

Arpaio’s prisons have been stripped of their health standards accreditation, the Mayor of Phoenix and other law enforcement officials have denounced the Sheriff's tactics, the Governor of Arizona has pulled some of his key funding, and over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against him. Meanwhile, crime has surged. The Sheriff's office has over 40,000 outstanding warrants for real felons that it simply hasn't had time to tackle.

Mr. Attorney General, elected officials are subject to our nation's laws. Sheriffs should be held accountable for fighting crime, not rewarded for spreading fear. We request an immediate Department of Justice investigation into Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his appalling tactics.

Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]