OPINION:
In a year of unreal political intrigue, not all the surrealism is playing on the campaign trail. In an epic absurdity, “America’s sheriff” could be going to jail for trying to stop illegal immigration and the wave of illegal immigrants are recruited to boost Hillary Clinton and her scheme to throw open the U.S. borders to one and all.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio is tasked with keeping the peace for 4 million Americans in 9,200 square miles of Maricopa County, Arizona, stretching from Phoenix south to the desolate border with Mexico. He is responsible for dealing with the challenge posed by savage traffickers in human life and drugs. Over 23 years on the job, he has not made life particularly comfortable for the guests in his jail, serving them only two meals a day, supplying pink underwear, and banning Playboy pornography in the cells. He does not want anyone to confuse jail with a Caribbean resort.
Now Sheriff Arpaio himself has been charged with a crime — contempt of court for employing racial profiling to identify and detain illegals. He understands that the waves of illegal immigrants include few blue-eyed, blond Swedes and Danes and wastes no resources looking for them. Accused in 2011 of defying an order to halt the patrols, he was charged with a misdemeanor on Oct. 26 and pleaded not guilty. If convicted during a trial scheduled for December, he could be sentenced to six months behind bars. This threatens his re-election next week, which is no doubt the point of the prosecution. That would suit the open-borders lobby and The New York Times, which has called him “America’s worst sheriff.”
Most of his fellow 84-year-olds are content to ride their rocking chairs, but Mr. Arpaio has been juggling conflicting duties, attempting to balance security for his constituents with firm but humane treatment of illegals flooding into his jurisdiction under the auspices of the Obama administration, with its stubborn failure to secure the border.
Record numbers of illegal aliens are pouring across the border in advance of the Nov. 8 election. CBS News reports from McAllen, Texas, that as many as 1,000 immigrants a day are entering the country at McAllen. As fast as they turn themselves in, authorities release them with ankle monitors while processing requests for asylum.
The tide of humanity is driven by presidential politics. Immigrants say they’ve been told to hurry north because if Hillary Clinton is elected they can expect amnesty and a path to citizenship in short order. If Donald Trump wins, his promised wall will soon rise to block their path. Either way, their opportunity is now.
The “Dreamers,” illegals who have been granted temporary legal status, are signing up to help Hillary’s presidential campaign. Though they’re prohibited from voting themselves, they’re going door-to-door in key battleground states such as Virginia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, urging residents to vote Democratic. WikiLeaks posted a speech to Brazilian bankers in which Hillary boasted that “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders.”
It’s surreal when a sheriff trying to enforce the law is threatened with jail while the lawless are encouraged to ignore the nation’s sovereign borders and interfere in the presidential election. That’s no dream. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
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