Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R) said “I think politics is involved” in a Border Patrol union backing out of a visit to the border by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Wolf.”
Arpaio said, “I was surprised to hear that they were going to be there. I think politics is involved. Border Patrol works for Homeland Security and I have a feeling that they were told not to participate. let’s see if Hillary comes down there whether she’ll be welcome by the Border Patrol, who I loved, it’s a great organization. But I smell politics in this whole situation.”
Arpaio then addressed accusations about whether he and his deputies racially profiled and had bias towards Latinos, Arpaio stated he wouldn’t comment since the case is still in the courts. He added, “We do not racial profile. That’s as far as i’m going. If you want to talk about my 15 years as a top federal drug enforcement official in Mexico City, Texas, Arizona, in 23 years as the elected sheriff, I think I’ve proved a point I know what I’m doing. So, I’m going to avoid, Jake, that question right now, because it’s not appropriate when you’re in court.”
He was then asked “Mr. Trump has seemed to suggest that the Mexican government is deliberately sending drug dealers and rapists into the United States, and that that element constitutes most of who is crossing the border illegally. Now, according to polls, most Americans, and most Republicans do not see it that way. They say most of the undocumented workers are coming here for a better life. You obviously have a unique perspective. What is your take?”
Arpaio answered, “No, I worked closely with the Mexican government, the president, in my other job, that I mentioned. No, but, you know, people come here to work. But, you don’t violate the law. If you come into this country, you should be held accountable. Most of the people that live in Mexico are good people. When you say that they encourage, I don’t know. I think they give pamphlets out before they cross the border, the Mexican officials, on how to take care of yourself when you’re in the desert to survive. I can go on and on. But maybe we should crack down on the situation in Mexico before the drugs — everybody forgets the drug traffic, which is very interesting, why keep talking about illegal immigration. But crackdown, and like when I worked in Mexico City in Mexico we worked with the army. I was out there on the street, with the army, my agents. let’s get the US Army working bilateral with the Mexican government to clean up the mess on that side of the border.”
Arpaio also addressed corruption inside Mexico, stating that when he was there, his investigations weren’t hurt by corruption, and “I think we had a little corruption in the United States of America, unfortunately. So, they do have a problem in Mexico with corruption. I admit that. But you don’t surrender. You don’t always blame corruption as a reason we’re not doing anything in Mexico. Where’s the secretary of state? Where are all of these senators? Do you ever see them go to mexico? They go all over the world, but they never go to Mexico, which is a critical country for drugs and illegal immigration. So, I don’t know. Secretary of states are very critical. And how many times do they go to Mexico? How many times does the president go to Mexico? he should spend a little more time in Mexico.”
Arpaio also clarified that he hasn’t endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign, and has not endorsed anyone for president yet.
He was then asked about his questioning of the authenticity of President Obama’s birth certificate. Arpaio stated, “I’m the chief law enforcement officer elected by the people. I have a right to investigate and speak out. I’m not talking about where he came from. I don’t care where he came from. We’re working on a fraudulent, forged, government document. That’s what we are doing.” He added that the birth certificate Obama released is fake.
When asked if anyone else in law enforcement who agreed with him, he responded, “No, they haven’t looked at it. What are you kidding? I’m probably the only law enforcement official that has looked into it. Nobody looks into it. They shy away from it.”
He re-iterated, “I don’t care where he was born. I’m talking about a fraudulent government document, a birth certificate. That’s all I’m concerned with. And that seems to be a violation of the law.”
Arpaio concluded, “I’m not going to get into all the technical details. … But I have people that look into it. And I’ve been around a long time. I’m not stupid enough to even talk to you about it if I even think there was a lot of smoke and fire there.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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