Immigration enforcement fund slashed in AZ
A fight has erupted in Arizona, pitting the state’s governor against a county lawman known as "America's Toughest Sheriff,” and the hunt for illegal immigrants against the hunt for felons on the loose.
According to several reports, Gov. Janet Napolitano has signed an executive order shifting $1.6 million out of the budget for a task force set up to unravel human smuggling networks in the state, and reassigning the money to a new effort to round up tens of thousands of fugitives.
The cutbacks were not shared across Arizona’s 15 counties. Rather, they were aimed at just one county — Maricopa — and its controversial sheriff, Joe Arpaio. MIKE NIZZA for the Lede in The New York Times.