KGUN9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & SportsCongressional hearing targets Sheriff Joe Arpaio's SB-1070 tactics

Congressional hearing targets Sheriff Joe Arpaio's SB-1070 tactics

Reporter:  Steve Nunez

TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) -  Congressman Raul Grijalva will hold a congressional hearing on Thursday to show what he calls "abuses" in how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio conducts illegal immigration sweeps. Arpaio is quick to admit he's been enforcing much of SB 1070 for years. Grijalva says exposing Arpaio's tactics may force lawmakers to start talking about comprehensive immigration reform.

Congressman Grijalva told Nine On Your Side's Steve Nuñez, "This is a situation that requires much more then platitudes. It requires much more then slogans. It requires much more then sound bites. This is complex. It's about human beings. And I think we need to start dealing with this issue as not just the political football to kick back and forth but the very lives we're affecting on a daily basis of millions upon millions of people living in this country."

One of those people is Silvia Rodriguez of Phoenix. Her parents brought her to Arizona when she was 2 years old.  According to Rodriguez, the her parents overstayed their visas.  She graduated from ASU and was recently accepted to attend Harvard grad school.

Rodriguez is now one of five witnesses invited by Grijalva to testify before a Congressional panel.  She spoke with Nuñez Tuesday by phone.  Rodriguez said she hopes to put her face behind the immigration debate.

Nuñez asked Rodriguez, "Why do you think Congress or any congressional member should listen to your voice?" Rodriguez said, "Because I feel that I represent a huge part not only the people in Arizona but people across the U.S. Students that were young people that were brought here by their parents who find this country their home."

Rodriguez also belongs to a movement group known as PUENTE, or bridge. Rodriguez says PUENTE will also call on the Department of Justice to complete its 15-month long investigation of Sheriff Arpaio.

The group will show video clips, captured by members, that aim to compare the difference in tactics used when Arpaio's deputies pull over Hispanics versus the tactics used when deputies pull over non-Hispanics.

One video clip shows a deputy who pulled over an Hispanic driver because the license plate light on his mini-truck was not working.  The deputy forces the driver out of the truck and forces him to sit down on the ground.  A drug sniffing K-9 is then brought in to search the truck for drugs.  The video shows that when deputies found no drugs, they released the driver.

This same video clip then shows a non-Hispanic driver who was also pulled over for a traffic violation. The video captures this driver sitting in his car afterwards, relaxed and talking on the cell phone.

Rodriguez, who lives in Phoenix, calls these tactics "injust" and "discriminatory." Rodriguez said, "I don't think necessarily we're asking for amnesty." Nunez then asked, "What are you asking for then?" Rodriguez responded, "We're asking for an opportunity to be able to live in this country without fear. To be able to contribute. To be able to get an education. To receive medical attention if we're dying and something is wrong with us. We're asking to be respected and to just be acknowledged as human beings."

Rodriguez hopes her testimony will lead to a process for people like her to become U.S. citizens. Specifically, Rodriguez favors passage of the "Dream Act," a bill that would give students in her situation a path to citizenship.   She says the current process would require her to return to Mexico, thereby separating her from her family.   Rodriguez points out that Mexico is a country she doesn't know. 

Rodriguez also hopes President Obama will help lead efforts to overturn SB 1070, which she feels is discriminatory.

She'll get a chance to make her voice heard Thursday at noon Tucson time.  Besides Grijalva, four other Democrats will take part in the congressional hearing. Sheriff Arpaio will not be at the hearing.