Joe Arpaio's Tent City for Illegal Aliens in Pink Underwear Closed Down (VIDEO)

Well, I for one will miss Joe Arpaio.

At the Arizona Republic, "Tent City, infamous home of inmates who wear pink underwear and major piece of Arpaio's legacy, is closing."

Guadalupe Garcia Deported to Mexico After 21-Year Thug Life in U.S. (VIDEO)

Zero fucks to give here.

She committed identity theft, stealing someone's Social Security number. Has lived illegally in the U.S. for over two decades. She should've been deported years ago.

At Moonbattery, "Hearts Bleed as Felonious Illegal Alien Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos Is Deported."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Longtime Phoenix resident in U.S. illegally was detained in early display of Trump executive order's reach":

A Phoenix woman in the country illegally who was considered a low priority for deportation by the Obama administration has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Immigrant advocates say her detention reflects the severity of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, 36, had lived in the country since she was 14. She was arrested in 2008 during a workplace raid ordered by then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at Golfland Sunsplash amusement park in Mesa, Ariz., and convicted of felony identity theft for possessing false papers.

A mother of two, she continued to live in Arizona and checked in with ICE every six months. On her scheduled meeting Wednesday morning, she arrived at the ICE field office in Phoenix surrounded by supporters. An immigration attorney later told the crowd outside that Garcia de Rayos had been arrested.

Keep reading.

Donald Trump's Immigration Speech Threatens Republican Party's Future

I don't really care about the future of the GOP, particularly if the party continues to morph into a mirror image of the Democrats.

The job of the opposition party is to oppose. Might the Republicans need to spend a few years in the political wilderness? Fine with me. Frankly, we could use a party realignment that shakes up the entire party system.

But see Cathleen Decker, at LAT, "In immigration speech, Donald Trump spurns softened tone and threatens Republican future":

Donald Trump’s aggressively tough speech on immigration buried the notion that he planned to pivot away from the posture that got him the Republican nomination to a gentler position tailored for more moderate general election voters, Republicans included.

It also may have buried his party’s strategy for long-term survival: the effort to appeal to the Latino and Asian voters who are replacing the waning numbers of white voters on whom the GOP has long depended.

Trump’s Wednesday night remarks made clear that he intends to try to win the presidency with the group that won him the nomination — mostly male, white voters who feel stressed by the economy, the rapid changes in American society or both — in defiance of fears even among other Republicans that such a base is not big enough to secure the White House.

Nothing in his speech served to expand his reach among minority Americans. For some Republicans who have worked for decades to diversify their party, the result felt apocalyptic.

Mike Madrid, a California GOP strategist who has sought to broaden the party’s reach among Latinos and other nonwhite voters, declared himself “stunned” at Trump’s approach.

“We’re witnessing the end of the party,” he said. “I now know what my father meant in 1980 when he told me the party he grew up with” — in that case, the Democrats’ — “was no longer the party he felt comfortable in.”

Republicans for decades have debated what was required to attract the minority voters who grow more influential each presidential cycle: Was it a softening of policy on immigration, or merely a softened tone toward immigrants?

Few considered what Trump delivered Wednesday night: a speech that was hardened in both policy and tone.

Trump reiterated his call for a giant wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He said that his immediate priority as president would be deporting those undocumented immigrants involved in crimes, but also asserted that no one in the country without proper documents would be outside the reach of deportation officers.

He said that even those brought here illegally as babies would be subject to being deported, and that all immigrants here without legal authorization would have to return to their country of origin to seek future return.

He also expanded on a plan to curb legal immigration and said he would set in motion a system by which future applicants would be judged by unspecified accomplishments — a standard that could be unattainable by many current immigrants.

Dividing immigrant families, while unfortunate, might be necessary, he suggested, because “our greatest compassion must be for our American citizens.”

Trump referred repeatedly to “criminal aliens” — words that are taken as a slap by many Latinos — and painted a world in which violent hordes were streaming over the border to target Americans. (Both crime and immigration levels remain near historic lows.)

Earlier in the day, during a quick visit with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Trump had praised Latino immigrants as “spectacular” and “hard-working.” But by Wednesday night he was casting them and other immigrants as something more akin to a blight.

“No one will be exempt. … Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,” Trump said. He added later, with a sharp edge, that “people will know that you can’t just smuggle in, hunker down and wait to be legalized. Not gonna work that way. Those days are over.”

The views Trump expressed have an intense appeal among his most loyal supporters, but not among a majority of rank-and-file Republicans.

Still more at that top link.

MAGA!

Donald Trump Delivers Tough Immigration Speech in Phoenix (VIDEO)

At the Arizona Republic, "Trump in Phoenix: Watch immigration speech live":

7:15 p.m.: Trump vows to build the wall

Donald Trump began laying out his immigration plan, asking the crowd, “Are you ready? Are you ready?”

His first step: “We will build a great wall along the southern border," he said.

The crowd chanted, “Build the wall.”

“And Mexico will pay for the wall. They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for the wall. Great people and great leaders, but they’re going to pay for the wall."

Trump said he would build a wall that was tall, impenetrable and beautiful.

“We will use the best technology,” he said, “including above and below-ground sensors, towers, aerial surveillance, to supplement the wall.”

Trump said he believed Mexico would help with his plan because it would stop criminal cartels.

“Especially after meeting with their wonderful, wonderful president today,” Trump said, “they want to solve this problem along with us, and I’m sure they will.”

More at LAT, "Campaign 2016 updates: Donald Trump vows that Mexico will pay for a wall along southern border."

Plus, more video, "Donald Trump says Illegal Immigrants will be out within the 1st hour he's President - AGAIN," and "Donald Trump says maybe ICE will deport Hillary Clinton - Phoenix, Arizona."

And, "Donald Trump lays out three steps of his immigration policy."

Trump Secures Major Victory in Mexico Visit (VIDEO)

TPM's Josh Marshall had an essay up yesterday asking, "Can Trump Be This Stupid? (Not a Trick Question)."

I thought "Can Josh Marshal Be This Stupid?"

The Mexico visit was a brilliant idea. It surprised everyone and actually opened a dialog with Mexico on building the wall. Trump beats expectations and appears diplomatic. Pretty smart, I thought.

So here's Byron York with the confirmation, at the Washington Examiner, "Mexico gamble a huge win for Trump":

About an hour before Donald Trump made his joint statement with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a strategist in Trump's extended circle saw success on the horizon.

"I bet they have a nice meeting where they both explain their positions and promise to talk further — it doesn't have to be any more complicated than that," the strategist explained. "If [Trump] just has a calm, behind-closed-doors meeting, has a photo taken, looks presidential, and gets out of town, that's a big win."

Indeed, it was a big win — a very big win — for Trump. Going into a meeting with the potential for disaster — who knew how Pena Nieto would receive the world's most controversial presidential candidate or what embarrassments might lie ahead? — Trump came out of the meeting looking very much like a potential President of the United States. Standing beside the Mexican leader in front of a green-gray granite wall reminiscent of the United Nations, Trump presented the picture of a statesman.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Trump was reciting "The Snake" before a rowdy audience in Everett, Washington. In Mexico, he looked like a world leader.

Before the meeting, some in the Trump circle saw a win virtually no matter what happened. "It's a great gesture," another adviser said. "Frankly, the outcome doesn't matter. It's the fact that he did it. He took the guy up on his invitation, and even if there's no substance, at least the gesture was made, and it absolutely, totally overshadows anything Hillary Clinton is going to do for the next 48 hours."

After the hour-long session, Trump benefited enormously from the conventions and practices of international relations. There they were, the president at one podium and the candidate at another, translators translating, the assembled international press watching. When it came time to talk, Pena Nieto observed the niceties of diplomacy, treating Trump as a quasi-president already...

Keep reading (via Memeorandum).

Previously, "Donald Trump to Visit Mexico to Meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto."

ADDED: Still more at Instapundit.

Donald Trump to Visit Mexico to Meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto

This is great.

Trump continues to upend the news cycle.

And if it's a productive meeting, he could damage Hillary Clinton's momentum in the Hispanic community.

He's unpredictable and totally fearless. I like it.

At LAT, "Donald Trump headed to Mexico for meeting with Enrique Peña Nieto."

More at Memeorandum.

Trump will be making another "major address" tomorrow, on immigration.

It's highly anticipated. And it's going to be an interesting news day.

Hydration Stations in Phoenix (VIDEO)

That's nice, but maybe the Salvation Army should be setting up some hydration stations at the border.

Illegal aliens are going to be dying to get into the U.S. in this weather, literally.

Tabitha Renee Brubaker Attacks 'Hate Preacher' with Baseball Bat, Arrested for Aggravated Assault (VIDEO)

Leftists are cheering the violence on Twitter, "#TabithaBrubaker is a fucking hero: Preacher w/ ‘you deserve to be raped’ sign hit over the head by baseball bat."

The ghouls at Raw Story are down with it, via Memeorandum, "Preacher carrying ‘you deserve to be raped’ sign hit over the head by baseball bat-wielding woman."

Basically your free speech ends with an aluminum baseball bat to your head.

Watch, at ABC News 15 Phoenix:



And from KTVK 3 Phoenix, "Young woman accused of attacking self-proclaimed preacher with baseball bat [WARNING: Graphic video]":

PHOENIX (KPHO/KTVK) - Glendale police have arrested a 19-year-old woman suspected of attacking a controversial street preacher with a baseball bat outside Apollo High School.

Tabitha Renee Brubaker was taken into custody Thursday. She is facing an aggravated assault charge in connection with the April 26 incident.

The sound of a metal bat striking a hard object was captured on cell phone video.

"I was so distraught hearing that, and seeing that that's being posted on my sister," said Kayla Brubaker. "My sister, she's not that type of person."

The victim, Dean Saxton, known as Brother Dean, was using a megaphone to preach his beliefs to kids at the school across the street.

"Many of you Apollo High schoolers are going to hell!" he shouted.

Saxton has made headlines in the past for holding signs that say women who dress immodestly deserve to get raped. During the demonstration at Apollo High, he told gay students they were going to hell and disparaged Muslims as "dirty."

Within minutes, several students and parents approached Saxton and urged him to leave. While speaking with one parent, someone struck him over the head with a bat...

Still more.

Violent leftists.

They usually get a pass, but leftist attacks have been increasing, so it's getting harder for MSM outlets to ignore. In this case, the story's getting coverage because progressive media types think the guy deserved it.

Donald Trump Fountain Hills Protesters Face Jail Time in Arizona (VIDEO)

Following-up from yesterday, "Donald Trump Supporters Clash with Protesters in Arizona (VIDEO)."

At ABC News 15 Phoenix.

One of the women waiting to get into the rally says, "Trump just represents all my morals and values":

Donald Trump Supporters Clash with Protesters in Arizona (VIDEO)

"#CrushTrump" is trending right now on Twitter, and that's for the New York protests against Trump today.

Also, more at "#Arizona Trump."

And at LAT, "Protesters block road outside Donald Trump rally, so supporters walk instead."

Plus, watch at CNN:

Bernie Sanders Claims Sheriff Joe Arpaio 'Ambushed' His Wife at 'Tent City', in Maricopa County, Arizona (VIDEO)

Heh.

What a great story!

At the Phoenix New Times, "Jane Sanders Blasted for Arpaio 'Photo-Op' on Social Media":

After Bernie Sanders' wife took a tour of Maricopa County's Tent City Jail with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, critics today accused her of acting as a "prop" in the spread of racist propaganda.

Among the naysayers was Democratic U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, who, in a Facebook post, advised Jane Sanders "to take a less naive approach" to promoting her husband's policies if she "is serious about winning over Latino voters in Arizona."

Gallego is an announced Hillary Clinton supporter.

More.

And at Free Beacon, "Bernie Sanders Walks Off Interview":

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) walked away during an interview with a local NBC channel in Phoenix, Arizona.

The footage was released by KPNX, NBC 12 ahead of Arizona’s primaries on Tuesday, March 22 and widely reported by The Hill.

Sanders appeared irked at first by a question from Brahm Resnik about Sanders’ stance on the Minuteman, a group who would voluntarily patrol the Southern border. After Sanders commented on it, Resnik asked Sanders about his wife, Jane Sanders’ recent trip to ‘Tent City,’ an outdoor prison in Maricopa County, Arizona. The prison is run by the famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for Trump’s strong stance on illegal immigration.

Jane Sanders went on a tour around the perimeter of the prison with Carlos Garcia, an immigrant rights activist. Arpaio approached her and invited her inside the prison for an up-close tour, which she accepted.

Sanders appears to be unhappy however with Arpaio’s invite. As Resnik attempted to ask Sanders about the visit, Sanders interrupted and gave his take.

“You know, let me just tell you something, you know, what Joe Arpaio is doing is an outrage. My wife went to look at the so-called ‘Tent City,’ which is something that should not exist. The fact that he crashed her meeting is to me, very, very wrong. Not something that he should have done.”

After Sanders was done, he got up, took off his microphone and walked off the set...

Watch the video at the link.

2 Girls Dead in Shooting at Independence High School in Glendale, Arizona (VIDEO)

It's a parent's ultimate nightmare.

At the Arizona Republic, "Police: 2 girls dead, no outstanding suspects at Glendale school":

Two 15-year-old female students are dead, and there are no outstanding suspects, after a double shooting Friday morning at the Independence High School campus in Glendale, police said.

Glendale Police officer Tracey Breeden said each of the two sophomores sustained a single gunshot wound, were found next to each other and were declared dead at the scene. They were found in an isolated area of campus near the administration building.

"This is not an active-shooter situation, and we realized that once we got on scene," she said.

Police did not provide the names of the victims.

Police Searching for Man Who's Been Grabbing Women's Butts (VIDEO)

Well, it's some black thug, but seriously. I'm sure they'll be searching for a long time.

 "Grabbing women's butts"? No doubt that's not an uncommon phenomenon.

At ABC News 15 Phoenix:

Arizona State Sorority Sisters Mocked for Taking Selfies at Baseball Game (VIDEO)

The MLB video's here, "9/30/15: Fans are having some fun with their smartphones, taking some selfies as the D-backs host the Rockies at Chase Field."

Also, an Inside Edition video, "Sportscasters Mock Sorority Girls Taking Selfies at Baseball Game."

See London's Daily Mail, "'Here's the first bite of my churro; here's the second!' MLB announcers mock sorority sisters taking selfies during Arizona baseball game in scathing rant live on air."

And they were given some free tickets, which they donated to charity. Pretty classy, at Hollywood Reporter, "Sorority 'Selfie' Girls Decline Free Baseball Tickets, Ask to Donate to Domestic Violence Charity," and ABC News 7 San Francisco, "SELFIE-TAKING SORORITY GIRLS USE INTERNET FAME FOR GOOD."

Police Take Leslie Allen Merritt, Jr., Into Custody: Suspect in Series of Shootings on Interstate 10 (VIDEO)

Watch, at ABC News 10 Phoenix, "Police arrest suspect in string of Phoenix freeway shootings."

And at the Arizona Republic, "Phoenix freeway shootings suspect identified as Leslie Allen Merritt, Jr."

At Least 15 Killed in Southern Utah Flash Floods (VIDEO)

Most reports indicate that 12 people died, like the CBS Evening News video below.

But see the Los Angeles Times, "At least 15 killed, including nine children, in southern Utah flash floods":

Before they turned deadly, the storms were a wonder.

Waterfalls spouted from the sides of the mountains. The rain came down so hard that some residents in the sister cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. -- most famously known as the home of a fundamentalist Mormon sect -- had trouble seeing their backyards.

"It's crazy!" Lydia Wyler, 38, said as she shot video of the wind and rain thrashing the trees outside her Hildale house, laughing a little as her kids gaped in amazement.

The joy didn't last. At least 15 people -- including at least nine children -- were killed in flash floods that struck southern Utah on Monday.

In Zion National Park, at least three visitors were killed while exploring Keyhole Canyon when more than half an inch of rain fell in less than an hour, park spokeswoman Aly Baltrus said Tuesday.

“It would have flashed right after a rainstorm,” said Baltrus, who added that the group had a canyoneering permit for the area.

Four others who were exploring the canyon were missing Tuesday, and Baltrus said rescuers wouldn’t be able to go into the small canyon until conditions improved.

Tragedy also struck Hildale and Colorado City, the border cities together known as Short Creek.

Officials say that as two families were returning Tuesday from a visit to a nearby park, the group of three adults and 13 children stopped to watch the floodwaters that had blocked their path back to town. A wall of water suddenly came from behind and swept their vehicles away, killing at least 12 members of the group.

Three children survived, including one who was hospitalized overnight. One person is missing, and it's not clear whether the person is an adult or child. The youngest child in the group was 4 and the oldest a teenager.


"We're just greatly humbled by this, but we realize this is an act of God, and this is something we can’t control," said Hildale Mayor Philip Barlow. "We have to take what we receive and do the best we can."

But after describing the thousands of phone calls the community has received and the arrival of more search dogs to look for the missing, Barlow fell silent a few moments.

"Just never experienced this before," Barlow said softly...

More.

And at USA Today, "Death toll rises to 12 in Utah flash flood; 1 still missing."

Vanessa Ruiz, Anchor for NBC 12 News in Phoenix, Defends Spanish Pronunciation of Words (VIDEO)

Heh, you gotta love this.

And she handles it beautifully. Watch: "News Anchor Shuts Down Haters Giving Her Sh*t For Her Spanish Accent."

And at the New York Times (where else?), "Arizona News Anchor Is Drawn Into Debate on Her Accent and the Use of Spanish":

PHOENIX — An Arizona news anchor defended her pronunciation of Spanish words during English broadcasts, saying she delivers them the way the language is intended to be spoken.

In a broadcast on Monday, Vanessa Ruiz, who works for 12 News here, waded into the running debate over the use of Spanish that has divided Americans in different ways for years, and has been percolating on the campaign trail.

Ms. Ruiz, who was raised in a bilingual household, said some viewers had questioned her way of pronouncing Spanish words. Sandra Kotzambasis, the station’s news director, said viewers were asking why Ms. Ruiz “rolled her Rs.”

In the broadcast, Ms. Ruiz said, “Some of you have noticed that I pronounce a couple of things maybe a little bit differently than what you are used to, and I get that, and maybe even tonight you saw a little bit of it.

“I was lucky enough to grow up speaking two languages, and I have lived in other cities, in the U.S., South America, and Europe,” she continued. “So yes, I do like to pronounce certain things the way they are meant to be pronounced. And I know that change can be difficult, but it’s normal and over time I know that everything falls into place.”

The use of Spanish in the United States has been contested in a range of ways over the years, from objections to its use in the Pledge of Allegiance; to casual conversation on school buses, such as in Nevada; and in a New Mexico supermarket accused of having singled out Spanish-speaking employees with an “English-only” policy, according to some of the cases pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union.

It has most recently reached into the political stage among rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, such as when Donald J. Trump said this week that Jeb Bush should “really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.”

The United States has more than 55 million Hispanics and, according to the 2011 American Community Survey, 38 million residents age 5 and older who speak Spanish at home. But questions about the use of Spanish persist.

In Arizona, where the Hispanic population is at 30 percent and is growing, the conversation about language has included questions over the English fluency of candidates for public office. It has surfaced regularly in schools, notably in a state law banning, with some exceptions, b ilingual education.

In July, an appeals court agreed to give challengers a chance to void a state law designed to end an ethnic studies program in Tucson’s school district, where 60 percent of the children enrolled were of Mexican or other Hispanic descent. A former state school superintendent championed the law, taking particular issue at a popular district’s Mexican-American studies program.

Timothy M. Hogan, the executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, has worked on some state laws involving the use of Spanish in public schools. “My observation is people generally feel threatened by use of communication that they are unfamiliar with,” he said. “Underlying all of that is the implied threat to the vanishing majority.”

Ms. Ruiz was born in Miami, grew up in Colombia, and studied in Spain before a career in journalism that has taken her on international assignments. She joined 12 News in July.

She followed her comments on air with a statement posted on the station’s website: “Let me be clear: My intention has never been to be disrespectful or dismissive, quite the contrary. I actually feel I am paying respect to the way some of Arizona’s first, original settlers intended for some things to be said.”

Still more.

Former Gov. Jan Brewer's Face Has Been Used in Online Ads for Anti-Aging Products (VIDEO)

Jan Brewer's a freakin' patriot.

And she's not pleased that her image is being used by online marketers.

Watch, at ABC News 15 Phoenix, "Gov. Jan Brewer threatening legal action over ads."

Arizona Woman Drowns 2-Year-Old Twin Boys in Bathtub (VIDEO)

It's just incomprehensible to me.

And she was going kill the twins' baby brother. Horrible.

At the Arizona Republic, "Avondale woman says she drowned twin boys, police say."

And at ABC News 15 Phoenix:



More at London's Daily Mail, "Mother charged with murder after drowning her two 2-year-old twin sons in the bath at their Arizona family home."

Phoenix Apartment Complex Has No Air Conditioning

Unreal.

When I was in Phoenix back in 2010 to cover the immigration rallies, temperatures soared to over 100 degrees. It's so hot there, I can't believe that building codes would allow non-air conditioned apartment homes.

At ABC News 15 Phoenix, "Apartment complex in Phoenix has no air conditioning."