February 24, 2009
By Kathy L. Gilbert

"No public servant should ever be allowed to promote racism," declared United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño as she announced plans to join in a Feb. 28 solidarity march against alleged abuses of power by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Arpaio recently chained and dressed detained immigrants in jail stripes and marched them through the streets of Phoenix, Ariz. to a tent facility in the desert, which was surrounded by an electric fence.

The parading of detained immigrants through the streets was a violation of their human and civil rights, said Carcaño, United Methodist leader in the Phoenix area.

She will join thousands of proponents of immigration reform as they march four miles through the streets of Phoenix, making stops at the immigration and customs building and the sheriff's office.

Several groups involved in the immigration reform debate are organizing the march, according to Chris Fleishchman, one of the Phoenix volunteers. "Religious leaders will be on the front line to protest against the human rights violations by Sheriff Arpaio," he said.

Zack de la Rocha, lead singer for Rage Against the Machine is also expected to participate, he added. Racial profiling

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been allowed to abuse the power of the public office he holds for long enough," Carcaño said. "As sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio has practiced racial profiling. He has fomented racism in our neighborhoods and communities through billboards that invite persons to turn in the neighbors they suspect may be undocumented.

"If this were not vile enough, he has also had his deputies dressed in ski masks stopping and arresting mothers at night in front of their horrified small children for minor traffic infractions because they were Hispanic and thought to be undocumented. Enough is enough!"

Carcaño has been an outspoken champion for comprehensive immigration reform. On Feb. 11, she was among the religious leaders speaking in Washington to announce a campaign by Interfaith Immigration Coalition to reform immigration laws in 2009. Places of worship held prayer vigils during the Feb. 13-22 Congressional break.

The campaign, "Prayer, Renewal and Action on Immigration," is designed to engage people of faith on the immigration reform debate. At the Washington press conference, Carcaño spoke out about Arpaio's actions in her home state of Arizona. Top priority

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano has been named to head the federal government's immigration enforcement operations. As Homeland Security secretary, she had made it clear that immigration enforcement is among her top priorities.

Carcaño said she was pleased at Napolitano's action to cut Arapio's funding "because he was failing at the work he had been elected to do."

The bishop said it is time to call upon Napolitano "to abolish immigration enforcement measures, including 287g, which allow local police to enforce federal civil immigration law.

"Such an abolishment of locally enforced immigration law should begin with Sheriff Joe Arpaio before he becomes an embarrassment not only for the state of Arizona, but for this entire country. Enough is enough."

United Methodist News Service
Kathy L. Gilbert is a news writer for United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn.