Election 2008: What’s At Stake?

An intriguing look at the local politics-immigration equation came from National Public Radio last week, in a three-part series on immigration controversies from the front-lines of Arizona.

In part one, “‘America’s Toughest Sheriff’ Takes on Immigration,” reporter Ted Robbins looks at how Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Phoenix courts publicity with his innovative jail policies, which include herding inmates into outdoor pens and clothing them in pink underwear. Many of the tactics that have won him widespread public support — and likely re-election in November — target illegal immigrants.

Read a transcript and listen to the report, including (at 6:23) one of the speeches that make Arpaio so popular with local residents.

According to one observer, the sheriff’s policies are motivated by politics. Says Michael Lacey, executive editor of Phoenix New Times, an alternative weekly paper, “[H]e discovered there were votes in going after Mexicans and he switched his policy 180 degrees.” [Meanwhile, publishers of the Phoenix New Times were arrested last year after publishing Arpaio’s home address in a story about his real estate deals. Read more from the New Times about legal filings made in response.]

A follow-up story examines the work of immigrant advocate Salvador Reza, a community organizer who has mobilized demonstrations against Arpaio’s crackdown efforts. Read a transcript and listen to the report, including (at 2:45) an account of how Reza persuaded the city council to build day labor hiring centers, a policy that public opinion has since turned against.

And in the final segment of the three-part series, NPR profiles the man behind Arizona’s toughest immigration laws, Republican State Rep. Russell Pearce, who is pushing for stricter anti-immigration measures. Read a transcript and listen to the report, including (at 1:17) his stand against illegal immigrants, whom he calls “invaders on American sovereignty.”

The radio network has also provided coverage of the national political angle on immigration policy, with a look Monday at tensions between GOP presidential nominee John McCain and Republican House nominees running for election in November. Read a transcript and listen to the report by NPR’s Steve Inskeep.

NPR’s election coverage also includes a take-out on the immigration issue, which looks at key legislation and candidate positions.