Sheriff Arpaio Chains Together Immigrants and Forces March

February 4, 2009 by Guest Blogger
Filed under: Immigration 
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By Dan Weiss

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix, AZ will chain together hundreds of detained immigrants today and force them to march out of a detention facility and into a “Tent City”.

Arpaio’s Maricopa County office released a media advisory titled, Arpaio Orders Move of Hundreds of Illegal Aliens to Their Own Tent City, that can be described as eerily familiar to the first phase of Nazi Germany’s anti-Semitic propaganda. The statement describes detainees being housed in an outdoor city of tents surrounded by an electric fence, with misbehavior punishable by forced labor on a chain gang.

They will be treated like all other inmates incarcerated here with two exceptions. Arpaio wants them to be instructed in American immigration laws, as a way to help them understand that the violation of these laws has serious consequences not only to them but to society as a whole. And anyone found to violate jail rules, may end up on a chain gang. This chain gang will work to clean the areas of the valley, which have been impacted by human trafficking trade.

The release even quotes Arpaio himself:

“This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape,” the Sheriff says. “But this is a fence they won’t want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock – literally.”

Wow. One of the more disturbing parts of the statement is the description of when and how the immigrants will be forced to march along with a map and parking instructions for those who wish to witness the event. Parading shackled detainees for public viewing is disgusting.

As a Jewish American it is deeply offensive to see an elected official brazenly flaunt the oppressive treatment of a people whose only crimes were entering the United States without documentation. The dire situation in Arizona is a shameful insult to the democratic freedoms of this country, and should draw cries of outrage from anyone who values the sacrifices our nation has made in the face of oppression.

We’ve seen this pattern in history before. First comes the bigoted propaganda and deprivation of basic human rights, then the intimidation, the detentions, the chains and the forced labor, and sometimes, god forbid, we see the worst. We saw it in Nazi Germany, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, the Japanese American Internment Camps, the Trail of Tears…the list goes on.

It’s the same old story. Just with a different tyrant – Joe Arpaio.

*Dan Weiss is a Chicago Hip Hop artist and the coordinator of the Center for New Community’s Hip Hop Project.
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Comments

5 Responses to “Sheriff Arpaio Chains Together Immigrants and Forces March”

  1. akargbo on February 4th, 2009 9:44 am

    Dan,

    Thanks for the post. As a Black person, I too am sickened and horrified by the symbolism of parading shackled people for public entertainment. The only thing missing from Arpaio’s twisted cabaret is an auction block!

    This is not American, and I am horrified that this sort of thing can still happen in the country in which I live.

    Sheriff Arpaio’s cruelty must be denounced!

    [Reply]
  2. Media Circus in Arizona as Media Whore Arpaio forces public march in chains | Immigration Clearinghouse on February 5th, 2009 10:03 am

    [...] Weiss relates it at Imagine 2050 Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix, AZ will chain together hundreds of detained immigrants today and [...]

  3. Breakthrough on February 6th, 2009 3:06 pm

    We should never deny anyone in our country due process and human rights.

    See a pregnant woman who was detained and shackled speak of the harmful impact of agreement 287(g) between local police and federal immigration authorities, which also enables people like Sheriff Arpaio to enforce unfair immigration policies.
    http://www.breakthrough.tv/product_detail.asp?proid=130&id=7

    Also check out http://www.homelandgitmo.com

    [Reply]
  4. Edw on August 18th, 2009 1:52 pm

    Sheriff Joe and Hitler are one and the same!!!
    Just look back in the history books. Why are people!!!! letting this happen.

    [Reply]

    John Public Reply:
    September 10th, 2009 at 11:24 am

    I get a Joe Arpaio propaganda e-mail almost once a day. Are people in our country so naive that they can’t see what is happening here? Who, besides, me, is scared to death to step into the path of Joe Arpaio?

    [Reply]