Illegal-entrant posse set

Arpaio task force acting under AZ smuggling law
By Amanda Lee Myers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PHOENIX — Maricopa County sheriff's deputies and volunteers will patrol the desert and roadways in the southwestern part of the county for illegal immigrants and arrest them under a state smuggling law, the sheriff said Wednesday.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Department will draw from existing deputies and members of its 3,000-member posse reserve — made up of trained, unpaid volunteers — to form the illegal-immigration posse.

The 100-member illegal-immigration posse will join 57 other specialized department posses that target specific crimes, including animal cruelty and prostitution.

The effort is an attempt to slow the tide of illegal immigrants into the county, Arizona's most populous, said Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

"It's important to send the message out to stay in Mexico and don't come roaming around here hoping you're going to get amnesty," Arpaio said. "They ought to stay cool, stay in Mexico and wait until this illegal-immigration problem is solved. If they don't do that and they come to Maricopa County, they're going straight to jail."

The posse likely will be deployed by the weekend, he said.