PHOENIX – A sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert — a violent episode that comes amid a heated national debate over immigration.
State and federal law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and scores of officers in pursuit of the suspects after the deputy was shot with an AK-47 on Friday afternoon. The officer had a chunk of skin torn from just above his left kidney, but the wound was not serious and he was doing fine.
The shooting was likely to add fuel to an already fiery national debate sparked last week by the signing of an Arizona law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration in the state.
The deputy was found in the desert Friday afternoon — after a frantic hourlong search — suffering from a gunshot wound from an AK-47, Pinal County sheriff's Lt. Tamatha Villar said. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Casa Grande, about 40 miles south of Phoenix.
Villar said the deputy had been performing smuggling interdiction work before finding the bales of marijuana and encountering the five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles.
"He was out on his routine daily patrol in the area when he encountered a load of marijuana out in the desert. He obviously confronted the individuals and took fire," Villar told The Associated Press. "I was speaking with him just a bit ago, and he's doing fantastic."
The deputy was alone about five miles from a rest stop along Interstate 8, about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. The area is a well-known smuggling corridor for drugs and illegal immigrants headed from Mexico to Phoenix and the U.S. interior.
"Over the past 12 months we've seen an increase in the amount of drugs, and an increase in violence that has been going on in this particular corridor," Villar told KPNX.
"We've had increasing concerns in this area about being outmanned and outgunned, and unfortunately this evening, this is coming true," he said.
The shooting came as Arizona grapples with backlash over its enactment of a tough new law targeting illegal immigration. Civil rights activists, concerned the law will lead to racial profiling, have called for a boycott of the state.
The law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week is supported by many in the state, which has become a major gateway for drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico.
Its passage came amid increasing anger in Arizona about violence, drug smugglers, drop houses and other problems caused by poor border security.
Villar said the search for the suspects involved numerous helicopters from state and federal law enforcement agencies and scores of officers near Interstate 8 and Arizona 84 about 50 miles south of Phoenix.
"The deputy is a search-and-rescue deputy, so its not uncommon for them to work those areas A) looking for drugs and looking for people who need assistance out there," Villar said. "Obviously its a high-traffic area for drug- and human-smuggling."
I'm not arguing whether or not there's a problem (there is). But this new policy seems fundamentally unamerican.
Believe me, when I was growin up, I thought the worst thing you could turn out to be was normal, So I say freaks in the most complementary way. Here's a song by a fellow freak - E.V
PHOENIX – A sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert
What's your point? How are drug smugglers who are illegal immigrants (Are they even, really? Do they actually live here?) relevant to or representative of non-drug smuggler illegal immigrants? Are you implying that we should crack down on illegal immigrants because they might shoot cops? What is the likelihood of that happening? Of all the illegal immigrants who have lived in this country, how many - what percentage - have shot a cop? And of all the people who have shot cops in this country, how many have been illegal immigrants? Now, of all the people who have shot cops in this country, how many have been part of the "drug war"? Based on this information, if your goal is to protect cops, should you crack down on drugs or illegal immigrants? Which of these two groups is really to blame?
quote..... this new AZ law is going to create MORE violence
again it is going to create more crimes and violence!!!!
not saying that we need to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration however when you switch a whole paradigm from innocent to proven to guilty to guilty to proven innocent you are going to have problems
people are going to act out and feel a need to defend themselves
PHOENIX – A sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert — a violent episode that comes amid a heated national debate over immigration.
State and federal law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and scores of officers in pursuit of the suspects after the deputy was shot with an AK-47 on Friday afternoon. The officer had a chunk of skin torn from just above his left kidney, but the wound was not serious and he was doing fine.
The shooting was likely to add fuel to an already fiery national debate sparked last week by the signing of an Arizona law aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration in the state.
The deputy was found in the desert Friday afternoon — after a frantic hourlong search — suffering from a gunshot wound from an AK-47, Pinal County sheriff's Lt. Tamatha Villar said. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Casa Grande, about 40 miles south of Phoenix.
Villar said the deputy had been performing smuggling interdiction work before finding the bales of marijuana and encountering the five suspected illegal immigrants, two armed with rifles.
"He was out on his routine daily patrol in the area when he encountered a load of marijuana out in the desert. He obviously confronted the individuals and took fire," Villar told The Associated Press. "I was speaking with him just a bit ago, and he's doing fantastic."
The deputy was alone about five miles from a rest stop along Interstate 8, about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. The area is a well-known smuggling corridor for drugs and illegal immigrants headed from Mexico to Phoenix and the U.S. interior.
"Over the past 12 months we've seen an increase in the amount of drugs, and an increase in violence that has been going on in this particular corridor," Villar told KPNX.
"We've had increasing concerns in this area about being outmanned and outgunned, and unfortunately this evening, this is coming true," he said.
The shooting came as Arizona grapples with backlash over its enactment of a tough new law targeting illegal immigration. Civil rights activists, concerned the law will lead to racial profiling, have called for a boycott of the state.
The law signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last week is supported by many in the state, which has become a major gateway for drug smuggling and human trafficking from Mexico.
Its passage came amid increasing anger in Arizona about violence, drug smugglers, drop houses and other problems caused by poor border security.
Villar said the search for the suspects involved numerous helicopters from state and federal law enforcement agencies and scores of officers near Interstate 8 and Arizona 84 about 50 miles south of Phoenix.
"The deputy is a search-and-rescue deputy, so its not uncommon for them to work those areas A) looking for drugs and looking for people who need assistance out there," Villar said. "Obviously its a high-traffic area for drug- and human-smuggling."
No there's no problem in Arizona.. :roll:
what about the drug dealers/traders who are legal citizens that shoot cops
still not right however the drug trade has nothing to do with immigration IMO
Comments
No there's no problem in Arizona.. :roll:
What's your point? How are drug smugglers who are illegal immigrants (Are they even, really? Do they actually live here?) relevant to or representative of non-drug smuggler illegal immigrants? Are you implying that we should crack down on illegal immigrants because they might shoot cops? What is the likelihood of that happening? Of all the illegal immigrants who have lived in this country, how many - what percentage - have shot a cop? And of all the people who have shot cops in this country, how many have been illegal immigrants? Now, of all the people who have shot cops in this country, how many have been part of the "drug war"? Based on this information, if your goal is to protect cops, should you crack down on drugs or illegal immigrants? Which of these two groups is really to blame?
again it is going to create more crimes and violence!!!!
not saying that we need to turn a blind eye to illegal immigration however when you switch a whole paradigm from innocent to proven to guilty to guilty to proven innocent you are going to have problems
people are going to act out and feel a need to defend themselves
what about the drug dealers/traders who are legal citizens that shoot cops
still not right however the drug trade has nothing to do with immigration IMO