Sheriff Joe Arpaio meets, greets at Republican National Convention
Jul 19, 2016, 1:04 PM
(AP File Photo)
(AP File Photo)
If there is one Arizona delegate who will not be ignored at the Republican National Convention, it is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The hard-charging lawman has been an enthusiastic supporter of presumed nominee Donald Trump. The candidate has visited Arizona several times in the past year and Arpaio showed up for a campaign event in Iowa earlier this year.
Since arriving in Cleveland, Arpaio has been making the rounds on TV news, starting with a visit to Fox Business.
During that opening night Monday talk, he pointed out that he warned of a “war on police” two years ago, referring to the recent shootings of officers in Texas and Louisiana.
He talked with C-Span on Tuesday morning, detailing his longtime commitment to past GOP presidential candidates and took calls.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio sits down with C-SPAN at the GOP convention. (Screenshot)
Arpaio also talked to MSNBC about the topic he is best known for — illegal immigration.
“No matter how this election turns out, at least opened the year ago immigration, whether it’s the wall, it doesn’t matter. The wall, all these candidates did not want to talk about it. but since he got (so) much publicity talking about it … it became a big political issue.”
Sheriff Arpaio says it's not fair that people are entering the country illegally: https://t.co/FDKtKtzLL9 pic.twitter.com/dDKSWqLDC2
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 19, 2016
During that appearance, Arpaio was paired with a young man whose Costa Rican parents were in the country illegally after overstaying their visa.
“If you come here illegally, that’s not right. … Change the laws,” Arpaio said.
The young man, a college student named James Villalobos, asked, given Arpaio’s years of experience in law enforcement, how to go about making changes to the country’s immigration policy. Arpaio said:
“Those that are here illegally, under certain conditions, maybe they should go back and … they get the first shot at coming back legally.
“I don’t know (the solution), my job is to lock up the illegal aliens.”
That part of his job brings out plenty of reaction and plenty of opposition, even outside of Arizona.
Arpaio had to make his way Tuesday to Quicken Loans Arena through a crowd of immigration protesters.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio arrives at GOP convention surrounded by police, media and angry Code Pink protesters. pic.twitter.com/DYNbFQ2568
— Jacob Rascon (@Jacobnbc) July 19, 2016
One young woman was vocal in her displeasure with Arpaio’s well-documented thoughts on immigration, shouting he was a disgrace.
Another woman also repeatedly yelled his actions were disgraceful, walking beside him to hurl her insults.
“Why are you picking on me? … I can’t even walk down the street around here,” Arpaio said, looking around at media and his security detail.
The woman didn’t give up. When Arpaio said he liked protesters, she said, “Well, we’ll be around you wherever you go because you’re such a disgrace.”
Arpaio’s face became serious at that point, asking the woman he was now facing, “Are you threatening me? Are you threatening a sheriff?”
The woman stood her ground, answering, “I don’t threaten anybody, I’m a peaceful person.”
The sheriff eventually made his way past the crowd.
Arpaio confirmed two weeks ago that he was attending the convention.
