Karl Rove: “An anti-Hispanic attitude is suicidal.”

Read fascinating quotes from GOP leaders waxing eloquent on immigration, courtesy of the website of  the pro-immigration reform America’s Voice.

Many of these quotes seem at odds with the shrill restrictionist tone of current Republican presidential primary candidates.

Mitt Romney photo licensed by Creative Commons.

In the last weeks, Mitt Romney voiced satisfaction over the endorsement of the lawyer who wrote SB1070 and said he’d veto the DREAM Act. (The federal measure, introduced for years but  never passed, would give temporary legal residency to kids who were brought to the United States illegally as minors, came up through our schools, have no criminal records, and want to serve in the armed forces or attend college. If they succeed, they get green cards.)  And now NumbersUSA, a John Tanton spinoff, is sponsoring anti-immigrant ads in South Carolina.

In the meantime, Barack Obama is reaching out to Latinos,  promoting  Cecilia Munoz to domestic policy czarina and making administrative changes in immigration policy.

Who do you think has a better chance in Arizona? Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?

In some Latin American countries,  “notarios” are well-respected and have a reputation for honesty. In Arizona and other parts of the United States, like Minnesota, self-described “notarios” sometimes prey on the most vulnerable immigrants,  as Minnesota reporter Gregory Pratt explains in this  Ciity  Pages story.

Arizona’s conservative governor, Jan Brewer, has her own personal sorrows that turned into a Social Security  investigation that went nowhere but raises weird questions, which were pointed out today by The Arizona Republic.

Time travel back to 1989: Brewer’s mentally ill son,  Ronald, is arrested for kidnapping a woman and forcing her to perform oral sex. He is found to be criminally insane, and hospitalized in a taxpayer funded state hospital, where he reportedly remains today.  At the time, a court official ordered Brewer to turn her son’s Social Security disability payments over to the state hospital, the Arizona Republic reports. And, the  paper reports, Brewer was re-ordered to make the payments the following year.

The federal investigation, which Brewer says was politically motivated, centered on what, exactly, happened to those SS payments. In the end, the case was closed.

PHOTO OF JAN BREWER IN PHOENIX BOOKSTORE VIA GAGE SKIDMORE (FLICKR)

But Republic reporters Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Michael Kiefer rightfully point out that unanswered questions still swirl around the case:

“The Arizona Department of Health Services, which runs the hospital, declined to release records to The Republicregarding such payments, saying the records either were protected by privacy laws or did not exist.

Court records said Ronald was receiving Social Security benefits when he was sent to the hospital in 1990. Federal law was changed in 1995, barring Social Security benefits to anyone institutionalized after being found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Each year, Jan Brewer, as “representative payee,” would have been asked by the Social Security Administration to sign a form regarding her son’s status. That form requires the representative payee to confirm if there is any change in the living arrangements of the beneficiary. The signature line for that reporting form states: “A person who conceals or fails to tell SSA about events asked about on this form with the intent to fraudulently receive benefits may be fined, imprisoned, or both.” Ronald did have a status change in 2002. Court records show he was conditionally released in May 2002 and returned to the hospital by September 2002. He currently is confined to the hospital.

The basis of the investigation was whether Ronald improperly received benefits at any time; the amount of money in question is about $75,000. Brewer said her son is no longer receiving benefits.

The governor declined repeated requests for interviews or records regarding the investigation. Last Friday, the newspaper submitted written questions to the governor’s chief of staff and Brewer’s private attorney. Those questions were answered in part this week by a four-page statement from Brewer.

Much of that statement focused on her family’s efforts to manage the affairs of her son, whose institutionalization has required them to be involved in his financial affairs.”

This is a weird, sad story.  I’m sure we’ll learn more.

The story is also  counter intuitive –  the  same governor who  complains about Big Government relies on its  decency and largesse to care for her seriously ill son.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-described toughest sheriff in America, is now in the national spotlight because his office allegedly did not investigate sex crimes in 2005. This is old news in Arizona. In 2008, a Mesa newspaper won a Pulitzer for exposing irregularities in the sheriff’s office — and the apparent siphoning of resources into well-publicized immigration raids instead of community policing — including the investigation of sex crimes in El Mirage.

Here’s a quick geography lesson for those of you who don’t live in Arizona. Maricopa County, which elects the sheriff, is the  most populous county in Arizona. The sheriff is allowed to police every community in Maricopa County, including Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler , Tempe, Guadalupe and El Mirage.

The sheriff has long been under fire for failing to police while diverting resources to immigration, as I said before. The sheriff’s department has cost the county millions in lawsuits filed by relatives of dead inmates alleged to have died wrongfully, or judges and other county officials who alleged the sheriff’s baseless but well publicised investigations of them were meant to harass them and ruined their careers. Sheriff Joe’s  office has been under scrutiny for misspending and abuse of power, and the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating alleged civil rights abuses for three years. His chief deputy and several officials were dismissed or resigned amid allegations of abuse of power and yet, the sheriff goes on, bolstered by out-of-state campaign donations that almost guarantee he will be elected in 2012.

But things may change — the same group that managed to recall Russell Pearce, the once powerful senator who sponsored Arizona’s immigration law, SB 1070, now wants to recall Arpaio. And locals are predictably calling for his ouster in the national media frenzy over the old Arizona news of botched sex crime investigations.

If you want to see a video of me and Sheriff Joe, go to my  main page, and click on “videos and excerpts,” you can see a video of me and the sheriff.

Today the Associated Press reports that apprehensions of unauthorized immigrants at the border declined for the fifth straight year, and are at the same rate we saw during the Nixon administration.

In the meantime, the Obama Administration continues to deport at a record clip.

And Republicans are moderating their hardline stance on immigration reform.  Republicans are historically  the party that enacts immigration reform. The last big reform was led by Ronald Reagan.

Newt is talking about a kinder, gentler policy. And so are pundits like  Bill O’Reilly.

The Republicans have a chance of winning this election if they can win over Latinos, who are disenchanted with what they see as the the Obama administration’s broken promises to enact reform.

This all leads me back to my book, which chronicled the vivid stories — and the stunning effects of a broken immigration policy — of undocumented immigrants in the Phoenix area during the Arizona immigration law controversy. In the book, Illegal, Life and Death in Arizona’s Immigration War Zone, I posited that the real problem wasn’t the right-wing frenzy over illegal immigration, because despite the heated rhetoric illegal immigration was waning significantly.

The real immigration problem centers on the unauthorized immigrants who live here  — and the  way in which our nation chooses to treat human beings.

Arizona Department of Corrections Launches Inmate Healthcare Probe, USA Today says. The newspaper reports:

“A diabetic prisoner, waiting months for insulin, lost sight completely in one eye and partially in the other. …An epileptic who wasn’t given his medications suffered repeated seizures for weeks…A man with a growth on his penis was denied medical treatment for two years. Doctors ultimately diagnosed a cancerous tumor on his penis; the organ had to be amputated, and doctors told him the cancer had spread to his stomach….An inmate with a cancerous growth on his lip waited seven months for treatment. Most of his lip and mouth were removed, leaving him permanently disfigured.”

Washington state provides half of the nation’s apples. A worker shortage, attributed largely to immigration laws, coupled with a late harvest will probably make apples more costly this year. Here’s an explanation from the guys who grow our apples.

An Arizona senator pleaded “no contest” to a charge stemming from a freeway fight with his ex-girlfriend, according to The Arizona Republic.

This isn’t the first time Sen. Scott Bundgaard has had trouble with the law. He’s a former felon whose record (for a scheme to steal car stereos from his employer) was expunged some years ago. He told me several years ago, when he was a state senator, that he made a bad decision, and that he was only 18 years old at the time. And why was I making such a big deal of it, for heavens sake.

In his February  freeway fight with with his ex-girlfriend Aubrey Ballard, Bundgaard  told the cops he was slapped around by his girlfriend in a fit of (her) jealous rage.

He sought legislative immunity when the cops were about to cuff him. Only the girlfriend went to jail that night. She claimed he dragged her out of the car and threw her down.

Both Bundgaard and Ballard were bruised, according to reports.

Recent behind-the-scenes negotiations ended up with Bundgaard having to attend a “diversion program” in exchange for pleading no contest to misdemeanor endangerment and the dismissal of an assault charge, according to The Arizona Republic.

I’m not a fan of  Scott Bundgaard and his extremist politics. I have written about him for years. Here’s one column. It made him furious.

I wish I could stop making him furious, but he keeps making bad decisions.

And I will continue writing about him.

Because he’s a powerful state senator, and people need to understand who they elected.

And who supports him.

In closing,  here’s a video of the disgraced senator as he was endorsed by America’s Toughest Sheriff.

Photo by Farmer Dodds from Flickr

Almost three years ago, on a cold night in November, two Border Patrol agents allegedly came across four “Mexican National” pot smugglers in the Arizona desert. The agents, Dario Castillo and Ramon Zuniga, forced the smugglers to take off their shoes, socks and jackets (just like drop house kidnappers) and burned them. They forced the smugglers to eat pot. Then they sent them hightailing into the desert. Now the two agents have been indicted for human rights violations by a federal grand jury in Tucson. Again, this is all alleged.  It’s too early for the BP agents to respond. But you  can read the DOJ press release below.
Border Patrol 2011-170(Castillo et al)

Tom Fitzpatrick, a Pulitzer-winning Arizona columnist, died several years ago.

When he wrote for Phoenix New Times, I thought of him as an old guy. But I loved his writing.

He wrote about topics I write about now — crime, politics, race.

And every once in a while, he titled his column something like: If you asked, I would have told you.

I like that idea, and I’m going to borrow it from time to time.

So….if you asked, I would have told ya:

1. The New York Times online site is known for its graphics.  Check out this graphic seeking comment on the debt brouhaha. It is so cool.

2. Mormons and conservative Republicans who oppose Russell Pearce need to reach out to Dems and Latinos for the Pearce recall election.  Otherwise, Pearce will be re-elected. He’s energized, and has some very controversial groups supporting him. And these groups are raising funds for the battle ahead.

3. Um, speaking of battles. Sen. Scott Bundgaard, a Pearce favorite who has pleaded not guilty to charges associated with an alleged  freeway slapdown of his ex-girlfriend,  fascinates me.  He’s a former felon (felony expunged) and longtime politico. But the senator probably won’t  be re-elected if he is found guilty of hitting the ex-girlfriend. He says he didn’t hit her. She says he did. We’ll see who the judge believes.