The Latest: 4 arrested as activists push sheriff to oust ICE
PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on the immigration activists with the Abolish ICE movement and protests in Phoenix (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
Four activists who chained themselves to each other outside one of the entrances to a county jail in Phoenix have been arrested in an act of civil disobedience.
Authorities say the four were sitting down and blocking the entrance Wednesday evening and refusing to leave.
TV video showed Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies dressed in riot gear pulling the four activists into the jail before the doors closed.
About 100 protesters and a smaller group of counter-protesters have gathered outside the downtown Phoenix jail as the immigration debate continues to be front and center in the United States.
The protesters want Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to end his relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is allowed to question jail detainees about their legal status.
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5:10 p.m.
About 100 protesters and a smaller group of counter-protesters have gathered outside a county jail in Phoenix as the immigration debate continues to be front and center in the United States.
Police are closely monitoring the at-times tense situation.
Four activists have chained themselves to each other outside one of the entrances to the county jail, hoping to get arrested in an act of civil disobedience.
The protesters want Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone to end his relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is allowed to question jail detainees about their legal status.
Supporters of ICE incorrectly say immigrants in the country illegally have no rights.
3:40 p.m.
Immigration activists who say the new Phoenix-area sheriff is the not much different than former Sheriff Joe Arpaio are protesting at the county jail Thursday in an ongoing effort to get immigration authorities out of there.
The Abolish ICE movement has come to Phoenix, although local activists have been working for years to end cooperation between local police and the feds.
Puente Arizona, the area's largest organization of immigrant advocates, is urging Democratic Sheriff Paul Penzone to stop allowing ICE officers in county jails, where they can ask anyone about their legal status.
But Penzone, who handily beat former Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 2016, is doubling down on his cooperation with ICE, saying it's for the safety of the community. Penzone says about 1,600 people in his jails have been flagged by ICE for immigration violations.
