Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an elected Republican, has told his officers to enforce immigration laws in the course of routine police activity and has coordinated the roles of 160 deputies with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
"We have made a lot of arrests," Arpaio said. "We have 10,000 people [illegal immigrants] in jail and in tent cities."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 45 words Type of Material: Correction
John McCain: An article in Monday's Section A about Sen. John McCain and Arizona Republicans' views of his stance on immigration said a new state law fined businesses that hired undocumented workers. The law calls for revoking the licenses of businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
Arpaio, a nationally known figure in law enforcement, is an honorary campaign chairman for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. "I like Mitt's position on immigration, not the senator's," he said.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Legislature is weighing a law that would compel local police departments to follow Arpaio's lead, ending what conservatives call "sanctuary" policies that allow illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.
The anti-immigration sentiment is far from what many moderate Republicans in Arizona and across the nation believe is reasonable.
"There is a tremendous amount of misinformation out there, and it is intentional," said George Gascon, chief of the Mesa Police Department and a former senior officer in Los Angeles Police Department.
Gascon, who describes himself as a longtime Republican, cited a list of academic studies that showed immigrants commit proportionally fewer crimes than native-born Americans. He added that the number of illegal immigrants in state jails was close to their 10% proportion of the general population, despite vastly inflated claims to the contrary.
The new law is also scaring businesses. Sheridan Bailey, who runs a steel fabrication business in Phoenix, has 100 employees, many of them foreign-born. He worries about his potential vulnerability if even one of them is residing here illegally.
"It's a one-guillotine-fits-all solution," he said.
Paul Charlton, a former U.S. attorney who is helping raise funds for McCain, is among those who say the senator is not out of sync with Arizonans.
"The mainstream Repub- lican view in Arizona is close to McCain's, but the people who speak the loudest have taken control of the agenda," he said.
"There are some voters who will not vote for McCain because of his views on immigration," Charlton added, "but not enough to affect the election.
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ralph.vartabedian@ latimes.com
nicholas.riccardi@ latimes.com
