Arpaio and his goons raided the Burlington Coat Factory on Friday night. According to his own account (see video), he was led to the factory based on a called in "gomer pyle style citizen's alert" (ala sb1070). He strictly targetted and racially profiled the latino workers, harassing, holding and cuffing them until they provided "papers please." Meanwhile, several anglo employees without identification were not stopped or asked for any information. When asked why he did not harass the Anglos arpaio responded, "We know their ethnic backgrounds."As you will see in the video, arpaio is rubbing his hands together in glee at the thought of upping the immigration raid ante with the enactment of sb1070.
Arpaio, as usual, allowed the employers to go scott free, even though Arizona has strict employer sanction laws. He also spent most of his time in front of the cameras!
Note to readers: Imagine the cost of implementing sb1070 with sheriff's across the state forced to respond to every "gomer pyle citizen's alert" call in every city and town in Arizona. Imagine the devastation to Latinos and Brown people across the state. Imagine felonious crimes going uninvestigated as Law Enforcement is forced to waste their time on these type of calls.
SB 1070 states:"C. A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS SECTION IS GUILTY OF A CLASS 1
ReplyDelete2 MISDEMEANOR AND IS SUBJECT TO A FINE OF AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, EXCEPT
3 THAT A VIOLATION OF THIS SECTION THAT INVOLVES TEN OR MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS IS
4 A CLASS 6 FELONY AND THE PERSON IS SUBJECT TO A FINE OF AT LEAST ONE THOUSAND
5 DOLLARS FOR EACH ALIEN WHO IS INVOLVED.
6 Sec. 6. Section 23-212, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
7 23-212. Knowingly employing unauthorized aliens; prohibition;
8 false and frivolous complaints; violation;
9 classification; license suspension and revocation;
10 affirmative defense
11 A. An employer shall not knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. If,
12 in the case when an employer uses a contract, subcontract or other
13 independent contractor agreement to obtain the labor of an alien in this
14 state, the employer knowingly contracts with an unauthorized alien or with a
15 person who employs or contracts with an unauthorized alien to perform the
16 labor, the employer violates this subsection."
This is the "knowingly" loophole I have mentioned in other posts. How can one prove an employer "knowingly" hired the illegals, especially if they all presented forged credentials? And even if they didn't, the employer's violation is just a misdemeanor which does not require an immediate arrest. The illegals are another matter since they have violated immigration laws and must be held for ICE processing. They also present a risk of flight to avoid prosecution whereas the employer presumably does not. There is a difference!
If the law was written differently, Joe would have no choice but to jail the employers pending a bail hearing but that is not the case.
You seem to be concerned about all of the extra work the police have to do but, in the next breath, you chastise them for allowing Anglos and employers to go Scott Free. May I point out that the probability that any of the Anglos are illegal is about zero, so why ask the sheriff's deputies to waste their time on them? I dealt with the employer situation in my earlier post.
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