WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to various reports, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the hard-line anti-immigration sheriff from Maricopa County, Ariz., is traveling to Iowa to endorse Donald Trump’s candidacy.
But Iowans have continued to show that the divisive, nativist rhetoric of Trump and others on the campaign trail does not reflect their own views.
Arpaio and Trump are reportedly heading to Marshalltown, Iowa, where local Police Chief Mike Tupper has urged the need for more tempered, productive rhetoric.
“Marshalltown has been enriched by the arrival and contributions of immigrants to the community,” said Tupper. “As a law enforcement agent, the mission of community policing becomes more difficult when immigrant communities feel threatened and victimized. Harmful rhetoric from candidates jeopardizes the relationship that we in law enforcement have worked so hard to develop and maintain. Hyperbole and exaggeration don’t advance the conversation. Instead it sets us all back.”
“As a resident of Maricopa County who cares about our immigrant community, I have experienced first-hand the negative impacts of Sheriff Arpaio’s hateful rhetoric,” said Adam Estle, Field Director of Bibles, Badges and Business for Immigration Reform. “I am not surprised that the Sheriff would endorse a presidential candidate whose bigoted and xenophobic campaign is pulling the GOP primary into a dark place. America is better than the rhetoric of these two men.”
“Chief Tupper and Sherriff Arpaio show a distinct divide between two law enforcement officials with two perspectives,” said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum Action Fund. “One, Arpaio, favors fear mongering and a questionable grasp on civil liberties. The other, Tupper, prioritizes public safety and due process. Iowa, much less America, is better with Chief Tupper at the law enforcement helm.”