It is a well known fact that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, as a local law enforcement agency, is on the front lines in the battle to fight illegal immigration.

This office aggressively enforces all local, state and federal laws in order to combat the growing illegal immigration epidemic in Maricopa County. Deputy Sheriffs are specifically trained to identify indicators that a person or persons might be in this country illegally without violating their constitutional rights.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office strictly adheres to the Constitution of the United States. This Office values everyone’s freedom and rights provided to them by the Constitution whether they are in this country legally or illegally.

Deputy Sheriffs must have reasonable suspicion that a person is in this country illegally before a deputy can pursue a line of questioning which pertains to their immigration status.

Activist groups would like the general public to believe Maricopa County Deputy Sheriffs ask people their immigration status without reasonable suspicion, which is a total misrepresentation of the truth.

It is the job of the Human Smuggling Unit inside the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to specifically deal with illegal aliens who commit crimes. The mission of the Human Smuggling Unit (HSU) is to interdict human smuggling loads and drop houses and to conduct investigations which result in the successful prosecution of all suspects under ARS 13-2319.A. (human smuggling statute).

HSU responds to calls for service and incidents in Maricopa County which may involve illegal aliens engaged in criminal activity. The unit deploys a law enforcement strategy accordingly in an effort to reduce the amount of violent crime and peripheral crimes associated with human smuggling.

MCSO/HSU averages approximately three human smuggling load vehicles carrying on average 20 to 30 illegal aliens each time the unit goes out on known smuggling routes and conducts interdiction. It is our experience if we had the resources to keep HSU out in the field seven days a week, twenty four hours a day, we would routinely interdict human smuggling loads on all shifts. Human smuggling loads traveling through Maricopa County is a non-stop illegal industry.

On numerous occasions deputies have come across standard size SUV’s and mini vans with 25 or more illegal aliens squeezed into the vehicles. MCSO has even come across a load vehicle where a two year old girl was being smuggled unaccompanied by any family members. This little girl was squeezed into the corner of a van with approximately sixteen other illegal aliens. None of the other illegal aliens in vehicle could account for the little girl. Finding this child was extremely disturbing considering the violence that is associated with smugglers, not to mention the sexual crimes MCSO has come across during human smuggling investigations.

MCSO has interdicted numerous drop houses and has come across unspeakable acts of violence during the course of drop house investigations. MCSO has encounter victims, both men and women, who had been sexually assaulted by the coyotes holding them captive. MCSO has come across victims who were routinely tased and forced to call relatives so the coyotes could extort them for more money. In one drop house, MCSO found that the illegal aliens had been stripped naked who then were forced to witness a coyote shoot one illegal alien in the head in order to gain the compliance from the others being held. Some coyotes like to strip their human cargo down naked to make the captives less inclined to attempt an escape.

MCSO deputies have also conducted several emergency entries (exigent circumstances entries) into known drop houses to save hostages who were being held against their will by armed coyotes.

MCSO deputies have put their lives on the line to save hostages on numerous occasion they are in this country illegally or legally. The mission is always the same; saving lives is always MCSO’s priority when it comes to illegal aliens being held against their will at drop houses.

MCSO’s General Investigation Division has investigated numerous homicides where the victims were suspected to have been murdered while being smuggled into this country. It is our experience that human smugglers tend to be ruthless having no respect or value for human life. Coyotes will execute an illegal alien they are smuggling simply for the purpose of instilling fear in the group they are smuggling to gain their compliance.

MCSO’s Special Investigation Division has interdicted numerous shipments of illegal drugs hauled through the desert on the backs of illegal aliens. Groups of 10 to 15 illegal aliens can carry up to 500 pounds of marijuana in at a time.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States and MCSO/HSU deputies have arrested hundreds of illegal aliens for identity theft and forgery in the work place over the past several years. MCSO deputy sheriffs themselves have been the victims of identity theft at the hands of illegal aliens. Activist groups never mention the victims of identity theft nor do they mention the legal residents of this country who are currently out of work due to the struggling economy, a problem made worse by undercutting the wages of the American worker by illegal workers.

MCSO has conducted numerous criminal investigations at businesses within Maricopa County. The majority of the investigations were launched as a result of tips received via our Illegal Immigration Tip Line. Over 70% of the tips that come into MCSO are by legal residents of Hispanic decent, yet the activist groups still scream racial profiling every time MCSO serves a criminal search warrant at a business and arrests illegal aliens for Identity theft and forgery.