A new report by think tank Goldwater Institute is calling for more audits and extensive investigations into the Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff’s Office, and the conditions it provides immigrant detainees in their jails.  The Phoenix Business Journal reports that the Institute also questions Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration sweeps, arguing that they take resources away from violent crime investigations and have ultimately not been effective in picking up undocumented immigrants involved in drug trade and human smuggling.  Earlier last year, Arpaio announced that he would crack down on undocumented immigrant activity by conducting sweeps that target day-labor areas in Phoenix, Mesa, and Wickenburg, Ariz. 

The Goldwater report also says Arpaio’s office needs to improve its recordkeeping, and that the US Attorney’s Office should investigate treatment and living conditions of its prisoners in its county jails.  During the past year, Maricopa County has faced a number of lawsuits from former and current inmates of these jails. 

Arpaio was re-elected to a fifth consecutive four-year term as county sheriff in November, running on a ‘get-tough’ approach to immigration enforcement.  Arpaio, in an interview with Phoenix’s KTAR News defended his actions from the Goldwater Institute’s criticism.  "I take orders from four million people that I serve," Sheriff Arpaio said. "It's just another irritation, going after this sheriff, because they don't like the way that I enforce the illegal immigration laws."  

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Earlier this month, US Border Patrol agents apprehended 14 undocumented immigrants from China in two separate border arrests along Arizona’s Tuscon sector stretch of the US-Mexico border, according to The Arizona Daily Star.  

Border Patrol agents questioned the Chinese undocumented immigrants about their immigration circumstances before preparing to deport them back to China, Border Patrol spokesman Mike Scioli said.  One of the groups caught told agents that they made contact from China with the smuggler, and that the smuggler made the arrangements with drivers in Mexico. 

While it is not unheard of for Border Patrol agents to apprehend Chinese undocumented immigrants, getting two groups in one week is rare, Scioli said.  They pay as much as $20,000 per person to be smuggled into the US, he said.  In comparison, undocumented immigrants from Mexico usually pay between $1,000 and $2,000 per person.   

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Earlier this month, the US Border Patrol has met President Bush’s goal of doubling its workforce during his presidency to more than 18,000 agents, The Associated Press reports.  The push for the border security increase began in 2006, when Bush called for the hiring of an additional 6,000 Border Patrol agents by the end of 2008.  The initiative set off an intense recruitment drive that included NASCAR sponsorship and billboards hundreds of miles north of the border.   

While the numbers are in place, some say the real challenge is training and incorporating the large number of rookie agents.  The Government Accountability Office said that “while Border Patrol officials are confident that the academy can accommodate the large influx of new trainees anticipated, [Department of Homeland Security] has expressed concerns over the sectors’ ability to provide sufficient field training,” the GAO report said. 

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According to some immigration court officials, there continues to be a steady decrease of certified court interpreters, which comes at a bad time as law enforcement agencies progressively step up actions against undocumented immigrants, USA Today reports.  Wanda Romberger, manager of court interpreting services at the National Center for State Courts, says that almost every state is being confronted with a lack of certified interpreters – who have to pass difficult exams – especially in languages other than English.   

“I don’t know of many jurisdictions that would say they have enough qualified court interpreters,” she says.  Currently there are currently about 3,000 certified interpreters.  Only 500 work in languages other than Spanish.  The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators did not estimate how many more interpreters are needed, but according to a 2007 report by the Administrative Office of the US Courts, there was a 17% increase in the number of events requiring interpreters in 115 languages in federal courts from October 2006 to September 2007. 

Poor or inadequate interpretation has been argued by some immigration court officials as the cause for reversal for many immigration cases.  Administrative office spokesman Richard Carelli says federal courts provide adequate interpreters for most Spanish speakers, who, he says represent 95% of immigration-related cases.   

However, the shortage affects state and courts equally in languages other than Spanish, and pushes courts to use freelance interpreters who may lack training.  Suzan Kern, former interpreter turned immigration lawyer, warns that “there is an assumption that if you’re bilingual, you can interpret and translate but it is most definitely not the case.”  Certified interpreters have to pass exams, either through a state certification program, the Administrative Office or the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification.   

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Former Mexican President President Ernesto Zedillo said that he and his countrymen regret and resent the construction of border fencing between the US and Mexico, calling for more “intelligent” security between the two countries.  In a December interview with website CNS News, Zedillo said he finds the fence “profoundly offensive.”  The sentiment expressed by Zedillo is expounded further in “Rethinking U.S.-Latin American Relations”, the latest report by the Brookings Institution’s Partnership for the Americas Commission; Zedillo is the Commission’s co-chairman and co-author of the report. 

The report suggests that the problem with the US’ approach to border fencing is that it will actually do little to curb drug trafficking and border violence.  The Commission’s other co-chairman, former US Undersecretary of State Thomas R. Pickering, suggests that America should address the problems currently existing in the US instead of creating a physical barrier.  In a recent Commission panel, Pickering noted that 90% of guns seized in drug law enforcement operations in Mexico can be traced back to the United States.  “Mexican DTOs and their associated enforcement groups generally rely on firearms trafficking from the United States to Mexico to obtain weapons for their smuggling and enforcement options,” the report says. 

“Drug traffickers, firearms smugglers, and independent criminals smuggle large quantities of firearms and ammunition from the United States to Mexico on behalf of Mexican DTOs, who then use these weapons to defend territory, eliminate rivals, enforce business dealings, control members, and challenge law enforcement,” the report adds.