8/28/2017 From One Border State to Another: FIRM Opposes Executive Overreach in Arpaio Pardon
St. Paul, MN – FIRM, a group of immigrants and children of immigrants from the Philippines in Minnesota, denounces in the strongest possible terms President Trump’s pardoning of former Maricopa County Sheriff and birther ally, Joseph Arpaio. Sheriff Arpaio, who had called President Obama’s long form birth certificate a “computer-generated forgery,” endorsed President Trump at a rally in January 2016.
“This proves, yet again, that President Trump is not interested serving the American people.” Said FIRM Co-founder Maryam Beltran, “Instead, he is using the powers of the Executive Branch to help his criminal friends.” Sheriff Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for actively disobeying a federal judge’s court order to stop illegally detaining Latinxs on the suspicion that they may be undocumented, which led to the illegal detention of American citizens and legal residents.
“It is hypocritical for the self-proclaimed ‘Law and Order Candidate’ to celebrate someone who breaks the law.” FIRM Co-founder Greg King said, adding, “President Trump is showing his bias, yet again, by claiming to be anti-terror while embracing someone who has built his career on terrorizing the Latinx American community.” President Trump, who reportedly issued the pardon for Arpaio without consulting the Justice Department, proclaimed himself the “Law and order candidate” during the campaign in July 2016 though he has never served as a lawmaker in any local, state, or federal capacity before being elected to the Presidency. Sheriff Arpaio’s career in law enforcement, during which he racially profiled Americans of Latinx descent, broke the law, and was subsequently convicted, was described as “admirable” twice in the White House’s statement.
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FIRM is a non-profit and non-partisan organization founded in 2016 by a group of Filipinx community leaders in response to the rise in anti-immigrant rhetoric and bigotry against marginalized communities.