Reason Number 1001 Why Arizona’s Immigration Law is a Bad Idea: Immigration suit against sheriff settled for $100K

The Middletown Journal in Middletown, Ohio reminds us of the reasons why local police involvement in immigration enforcement, like that required by the new Arizona law, may not be so great an idea.

AP PHOTO 

Here  Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones stands next to a sign he had placed in the parking lot of the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

The newspaper reports that “An undocumented immigrant worker who sued Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones for violating his constitutional rights has been awarded $100,000 in a settlement agreement. The settlement filed in U.S. District Court stems from the 2007 arrest of Luis Rodriguez, 44, formerly of Lebanon, when he and others were rounded by at a Port Union Road construction site by Butler County deputies and a former immigration specialist hired by Jones. Officials said they were at the site to talk to a supervisor about undocumented workers, but Rodriguez and more than 20 others were interrogated and asked to provide identification, according to Rodriguez’s attorney, Al Gerhardstein . . . .  Gerhardstein said his client, who had lived in Butler County for 11 years, was arrested and charged with providing a false identification and deported to Mexico, though he was later acquitted of the charge.”

KJ