Trump Rally With Sheriff Joe Arpaio Will Be Single Most Anti-Immigrant Event of the Year

Donald Trump will hold a rally in Arizona this weekend with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the Arizona Republic reports, a function that has the potential to set a new high water mark for anti-immigration sentiment verbalized at a single Republican primary event. — Donald J. Trump July 10, 2015 There is no more natural a companion for Trump in the state of Arizona than Arpaio, whose county web page calls him “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” Arpaio has used his office to harass Latinos so egregiously in the name of immigration enforcement that a panel of judges gave his department its own federal monitor and the Department of Justice no longer allows him to detain suspected illegal immigrants on its behalf. When Flake appealed to the party this week to reconsider its involvement, the county chairmain responded that he was “thrilled” Trump was coming and scolded Flake for violating the Reagan rule that “thou shall not speak ill of any other Republican.” Flake’s opposition aside, Arizona is full of pro-Trump Republicans, including former governor Jan Brewer, who presided over the passage of the state’s notorious SB 1070 immigration law. Maybe Trump will even find time to meet state attorney general Mark Brnovich, branded by the Republic’s editorial board as “Arizona’s Donald Trump” for his tone-deaf fight against court rulings granting driver’s licenses and in-state tuition to undocumented “dreamers.” Trump’s trip to Arizona caps off a busy week in which the candidate threatened to sue two high-profile chefs who pulled out of commitments to open restaurants in his new hotel, which will be just down the street from the White House.