Glenn Spencer, American Border Patrol – Aug. 14, 2009
This week Dr. Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center came to Phoenix at the invitation of its mayor to warn Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to distance himself from American Border Patrol, the organization I head.
“These are not people who anybody who is in public life should be spending time with,” Beirich said. “These are parts of our horrible past, especially the racism, that we’ve been trying to get over.” She said it was dangerous for the sheriff to associate himself with American Border Patrol.
To the best of my knowledge, my organization, American Border Patrol, has never had anything to do with Sheriff Arpaio or the Maricopa County Sheriffs office. We have never spoken with him or anyone in his organization. We have never sent him information or solicited his support. He has never contacted us. We support Joe Arpaio in his work, but it is admiration from afar.So what is Beirich talking about? What is it about American BorderPatrol that Sheriff Arpaio should avoid? Are we a bunch of crooksripping off the American People?