Joe Arpaio and Demonstrators Stir Up Immigration Debate in Phoenix
By Eduardo Barraza December 1, 2006
MCSO's deputies and Sheriff Joe
Arpaio himself stand in the parking
lot of Pruitt's furniture store where
protesters gathered to oppose the
store's owner hiring of off-duty
sheriff deputies to patrol the
premises. View more photos below.
Photo by William Gonzalez | Barriozona
Arpaio himself stand in the parking
lot of Pruitt's furniture store where
protesters gathered to oppose the
store's owner hiring of off-duty
sheriff deputies to patrol the
premises. View more photos below.
Photo by William Gonzalez | Barriozona
Published by the Hispanic Institute of Social Issues in Phoenix, Arizona
| HISTORY IS ABOUT TO CHANGE Grassroots Journalism |
Eduardo Barraza is a journalist and writer,
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
Barriozona Magazine's editor, and director of
the Hispanic Insitute of Social Issues.
E-mail: editor@barriozona.com
|
Phoenix, Arizona. The quest of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to
crackdown on illegal immigration and day laborers reached an
impressive high, when he personally —along a little battalion
composed of his posse, uniformed deputies and men in
plainclothes— showed up at the parking lot of Pruitt’s furniture
store. Arpaio and his detachment were there to guard the store’s
parking lot from a group of demonstrators who gathered there to
protest against Pruitt’s owner as well as the Sheriff office’s actions
toward men who hang around the “superstore” seeking day labor.
Called by workers’ rights advocates, Saturday’s rally was in response
to several arrests of day laborers made by Arpaio’s department in
previous weeks, as well as to voice disapproval for the employment
of off-duty sheriff deputies providing a sort of private police-
surveillance of Pruitt’s premises against men who they see
wandering around seeking work, and presumably undocumented.
Arpaio’s security apparatus in front of the store’s building was
laughable compared to the number of demonstrators who showed
up for the rally. The Sheriff justified the proportion of his deployment
by assuring that he was led to believe that about three thousand
people were showing up. Seeing the posse, the number of deputies
on foot, and the fleet of marked and unmarked county vehicles, and
Arpaio himself orchestrating the pointless show of force, a
demonstrator using a bullhorn yelled at him, “Did you also bring the
tear gas and the water hoses?”
The demonstration was also special for the presence of two
observers to the United Nations who witnessed, literally from the
horse's mouth, the tense and volatile situation in Arizona. J. Wilton
Littlechild and Tonya Gonnella Frichner were present at the rally, but
they were virtually ignored by “America's toughest Sheriff.” Arpaio
requested to talk to Salvador Reza —the forefront advocate and
organizer of day laborers in the County— as well as approached
demonstrators to exchange arguments face to face, but did not
show any desire to talk to the observers. When Captain Paul
Chagoya, Arpaio’s speaker, learned Littlechild was there, he shook
hands with him, checked his I.D., and pulled him into the parking lot
—by then a restricted zone— to briefly talk to him. Nevertheless,
Littlechild returned shortly after to the small crowd, without given a
chance to speak to the Sheriff.
Meanwhile, protesters were not just expressing their disapproval of
Joe Arpaio’s crackdown on day laborers and exaggerated tactical
operation for the protest. Among the strident sound of vehicles’
horns, they became personal and were yelling insults against the
Sheriff, who at times waved his hand friendly, smiled, joked, and
even took time to sign autographs. “Clown, clown, clown!”; “Arpaio,
you belong to the KKK!”; and, “Hitler, Hitler, Hitler!” The Sheriff
cracked up when he was surprised by a dog inside a private vehicle
that barked at him, catching him off guard momentarily, and then
said something pointing to the dog, and smiling at the crowd. Arpaio
and demonstrators shared the spontaneous moment of laughter,
until a man from the crowd expressed his opinion about the dog’s
barking, “See Arpaio, not even the dogs like you!”
A more serious tone saved the protest from becoming a complete
circus spectacle at taxpayer’s expense. Interviewed by BARRIOZONA
(watch video), the observers to the United Nations expressed
perhaps the most articulated and logical statement of the day. J.
Wilton Littlechild —a Cree Canadian lawyer and member of the
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues— declared,
“We are here as part of our obligation as U.N. members to monitor
situations like this, so there can be peaceful resolutions to matters
like these. First of all to recognize that there is a right to work for
people; and on the other hand, there’s also a balance that you have
to question: What might become illegal police activity? So when that
matter comes to me as a serious concern, I have to be here to make
sure that there is, not only a peaceful conduct, but also a peaceful
resolution.”
Tonya Gonnella Frichner —from the Onondaga Nation, and recently
named as the North American Representative to the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues— sent a message to Arizona
senator John McCain. “We need some serious negotiations and
some serious solution solving. So I would encourage Senator McCain
to take on that leadership. Arizona could be the leader on this.”
Salvador Reza —a member of Tonatierra and coordinator of the
Macehualli Labor Day Center in North Phoenix— stated that “Joe
Arpaio’s method of fighting immigration is by listening to racist
individuals, friends of Chris Simcock, so they come and deploy sheriff
deputies (at the furniture store); sheriff deputies on the County’s
payroll. In other words; they aren’t sheriff deputies doing the work
for the community; they are deputies being paid (by a private
citizen). That is inadmissible.” Tupac Enrique Acosta —also from
Tonatierra— who invited to Arizona the two observers to the United
Nations, pointed out what he considers an irony in the midst of the
immigration debate in Arizona. “Pruitt is a Greek name; Arpaio,
Italian; and we, the original peoples from Arizona, are the ones who
are seen as foreigners. That is what’s wrong with this picture,” he
said pointing toward the Sheriff and the Pruitt’s building.
A demonstrator who identified himself only as “Alejandro”, stated
that “enough is enough about Joe Arpaio’s hunger for power; he
doesn’t get tired —and he won’t— of being the main character in the
Media; the reality is that Hollywood is not located here. The
community needs a lot of help; there’s a lot of theft, and much
violence; I think he needs to focus more on the community.”
Reza announced that they will continue the weekly protests every
Saturday, and that they will move forward until the situation changes.
crackdown on illegal immigration and day laborers reached an
impressive high, when he personally —along a little battalion
composed of his posse, uniformed deputies and men in
plainclothes— showed up at the parking lot of Pruitt’s furniture
store. Arpaio and his detachment were there to guard the store’s
parking lot from a group of demonstrators who gathered there to
protest against Pruitt’s owner as well as the Sheriff office’s actions
toward men who hang around the “superstore” seeking day labor.
Called by workers’ rights advocates, Saturday’s rally was in response
to several arrests of day laborers made by Arpaio’s department in
previous weeks, as well as to voice disapproval for the employment
of off-duty sheriff deputies providing a sort of private police-
surveillance of Pruitt’s premises against men who they see
wandering around seeking work, and presumably undocumented.
Arpaio’s security apparatus in front of the store’s building was
laughable compared to the number of demonstrators who showed
up for the rally. The Sheriff justified the proportion of his deployment
by assuring that he was led to believe that about three thousand
people were showing up. Seeing the posse, the number of deputies
on foot, and the fleet of marked and unmarked county vehicles, and
Arpaio himself orchestrating the pointless show of force, a
demonstrator using a bullhorn yelled at him, “Did you also bring the
tear gas and the water hoses?”
The demonstration was also special for the presence of two
observers to the United Nations who witnessed, literally from the
horse's mouth, the tense and volatile situation in Arizona. J. Wilton
Littlechild and Tonya Gonnella Frichner were present at the rally, but
they were virtually ignored by “America's toughest Sheriff.” Arpaio
requested to talk to Salvador Reza —the forefront advocate and
organizer of day laborers in the County— as well as approached
demonstrators to exchange arguments face to face, but did not
show any desire to talk to the observers. When Captain Paul
Chagoya, Arpaio’s speaker, learned Littlechild was there, he shook
hands with him, checked his I.D., and pulled him into the parking lot
—by then a restricted zone— to briefly talk to him. Nevertheless,
Littlechild returned shortly after to the small crowd, without given a
chance to speak to the Sheriff.
Meanwhile, protesters were not just expressing their disapproval of
Joe Arpaio’s crackdown on day laborers and exaggerated tactical
operation for the protest. Among the strident sound of vehicles’
horns, they became personal and were yelling insults against the
Sheriff, who at times waved his hand friendly, smiled, joked, and
even took time to sign autographs. “Clown, clown, clown!”; “Arpaio,
you belong to the KKK!”; and, “Hitler, Hitler, Hitler!” The Sheriff
cracked up when he was surprised by a dog inside a private vehicle
that barked at him, catching him off guard momentarily, and then
said something pointing to the dog, and smiling at the crowd. Arpaio
and demonstrators shared the spontaneous moment of laughter,
until a man from the crowd expressed his opinion about the dog’s
barking, “See Arpaio, not even the dogs like you!”
A more serious tone saved the protest from becoming a complete
circus spectacle at taxpayer’s expense. Interviewed by BARRIOZONA
(watch video), the observers to the United Nations expressed
perhaps the most articulated and logical statement of the day. J.
Wilton Littlechild —a Cree Canadian lawyer and member of the
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues— declared,
“We are here as part of our obligation as U.N. members to monitor
situations like this, so there can be peaceful resolutions to matters
like these. First of all to recognize that there is a right to work for
people; and on the other hand, there’s also a balance that you have
to question: What might become illegal police activity? So when that
matter comes to me as a serious concern, I have to be here to make
sure that there is, not only a peaceful conduct, but also a peaceful
resolution.”
Tonya Gonnella Frichner —from the Onondaga Nation, and recently
named as the North American Representative to the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues— sent a message to Arizona
senator John McCain. “We need some serious negotiations and
some serious solution solving. So I would encourage Senator McCain
to take on that leadership. Arizona could be the leader on this.”
Salvador Reza —a member of Tonatierra and coordinator of the
Macehualli Labor Day Center in North Phoenix— stated that “Joe
Arpaio’s method of fighting immigration is by listening to racist
individuals, friends of Chris Simcock, so they come and deploy sheriff
deputies (at the furniture store); sheriff deputies on the County’s
payroll. In other words; they aren’t sheriff deputies doing the work
for the community; they are deputies being paid (by a private
citizen). That is inadmissible.” Tupac Enrique Acosta —also from
Tonatierra— who invited to Arizona the two observers to the United
Nations, pointed out what he considers an irony in the midst of the
immigration debate in Arizona. “Pruitt is a Greek name; Arpaio,
Italian; and we, the original peoples from Arizona, are the ones who
are seen as foreigners. That is what’s wrong with this picture,” he
said pointing toward the Sheriff and the Pruitt’s building.
A demonstrator who identified himself only as “Alejandro”, stated
that “enough is enough about Joe Arpaio’s hunger for power; he
doesn’t get tired —and he won’t— of being the main character in the
Media; the reality is that Hollywood is not located here. The
community needs a lot of help; there’s a lot of theft, and much
violence; I think he needs to focus more on the community.”
Reza announced that they will continue the weekly protests every
Saturday, and that they will move forward until the situation changes.
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