Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 85, who is now running for Senate in Arizona says that he agrees with President Trump ’95 percent of the time’ but not when it comes to DACA.
‘I would deport these Dreamers and let them see the country they came from, be ambassadors to our country, and later on give them kind of a fast track to come back into the United States legally and that would take care of a lot of issues,’ he told ABC News. He was talking about the recipients of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals.
The controversial lawman spoke out after the White House announced a new position on DACA, offering a path to citizenship in exchange for the money to build a wall on the southern border.
It is preparing to unveil its new immigration framework to Congress Monday.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio who campaigned hard for then candidate Donald Trump, disagrees with the White House proposal on Dreamers
Arpaio told the network: ‘I don’t know all the facts about what the president said but, you know, he does change his mind.’
He said he would wait to see what happens next, adding: ‘A lot of these Dreamers have a good education and all that and they can go into [their home] country and be ambassadors and talk how great America is and also see their country.
‘And maybe some of them don’t want to come back – who knows, if they get a big job – but if they want to come back, let them come back like everybody else, and let them come into our country and do what everybody else does that comes into our country, with a green card.’
Arpaio, been dubbed ‘America’s toughest sheriff,’ lost a bid for re-election in Arizona’s Maricopa County in November after 24 years in office.
He was known for his crackdown on undocumented immigrants, running a ‘tent city’ jail, and investigating unfounded Trump-supported claims questioning former President Barack Obama’s citizenship.
He was known as the ‘toughest sheriff in America’ for his harsh treatment of immigrants and inmates
Immigrant inmates wore striped jumpsuits and pink undergarments when Sheriff Joe was in charge
Arpaio poses in his office on January 10 2018, the day after he announced his candidacy for Senate representing Arizona
Arpaio, who campaigned for Trump in 2016, was convicted in July of 2017 of willfully violating a 2011 injunction barring his officers from stopping and detaining Latino motorists solely on suspicion that they were in the country illegally.
The former sheriff was facing up to six months in prison after he admitted to inadvertently disobeying the court order.
But he said the prosecution was a politically motivated attempt by the Obama administration to undermine his re-election bid in the race for sheriff.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio (right) endorsed Trump in January of 2016. He says he agrees with ’95 percent’ of the president’s policies
Arpaio was a keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in July 2016. He told the audience ‘Donald Trump will build the wall’
President Trump pardoned the sheriff, saying in a statement: ‘Arpaio’s life and career, which began at the age of 18 when he enlisted in the military after the outbreak of the Korean War, exemplify selfless public service
‘Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration.’
‘Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now 85 years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.’
Before Trump granted the pardon, the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the court injunction against Arpaio, said it would be ‘a presidential endorsement of racism.’
Sheriff Joe Arapaio tweeted his vow to fight on Friday
The Arizona GOP will be meeting on Saturday. Ahead of the meeting, the Arizona Republic reports that a resolution to remove Arpaio from the Senate race had been introduced, then quietly withdrawn.
Arpaio tweeted Friday: ‘I’m a fighter and I’m not going to bow out. I’ll see you at the convention this weekend, Arizona.’