Sheriff Joe Arpaio Raids Mesa City Hall

(Mesa, Arizona) After a Maricopa County Sheriff's undercover detective infiltrated a cleaning business and was instructed how to obtain fraudulent identification, Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered a predawn raid.

Early Thursday, about 30 deputies and 30 volunteer posse members stormed the Mesa City Hall and the library carrying semi-automatic weapons and wearing bullet-proof vests.

Deputies fanned out and arrested three people; 13 others, including a manager at Management Cleaning Controls, were arrested at residences later that morning, Arpaio said. Ten were arrested on suspicion of identity theft and six for potentially being in the country illegally.

The 16 arrested included six people who were not named in the warrants. Arpaio said they are still looking for 15 more company employees. [...]

Joining Arpaio in an afternoon press conference, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said the cleaning company had been under investigation for months. When asked why Mesa police could not handle the case, Arpaio said, "It's my jurisdiction, too. You seem to forget."

Then he suggested that there was something in the Mesa police "culture" that "they do not want to enforce the immigration laws."

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith was distraught as he spoke to reporters. He said that Mesa City Hall was violated by another government agency and the workers were terrified.

Heh. It appears that there is less than general agreement within Maricopa County on how to enforce immigration laws.

Companion post at The Jawa Report.