Joe Arpaio and the usual suspects: Illegal immigrants are fire starters

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. John "just build the dang fence" McCain got into trouble last week for suggesting the fires in southern Arizona were set by illegal immigrants before an investigation has been completed and without any evidence. He just feels it in his old bones. McCain and his GOP pals with him claimed a federal forest official briefed them on the cause of the fire, but the federal forest officials denied ever saying any such thing — because they like to wait for an investigation to be completed and have actual evidence.

As we learned from news reports it was Sen. Jon Kyl who whispered in McCain's ear that illegal immigrants are fire starters. This was followed by McCain's good buddy Sheriff Larry Dever in Cochise County saying the same thing to back him up. The usual suspects.

Not one to be outdone, Sheriff Joe Arpaio wanted in on this action. Arpaio Orders Deputies To Start Asking Undocumented Immigrants About Wildfires | ThinkProgress:

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has entered the fray.

Arpaio, who never misses an opportunity to scapegoat or harass immigrants, eagerly released a statement this week in response to McCain’s baseless charge. Arpaio announced he had instructed his deputies to question all detained undocumented immigrants about their connection to the wildfires, even though he admitted it’s “a long shot” that these interrogations will yield any information:

Deputies arrested 20 immigrants as they made their way through Maricopa County Wednesday morning.

All were reportedly from Mexico and said they were headed to locations in Texas, Tennessee, and New York state.

They all entered the border near where the fires are burning in southeast Arizona, according to the news release.

“It’s a long shot I know,” Arpaio said. “But since we already gather information from them about their U.S. entry points and travelling routes and methods, this is simply one more area of intelligence to explore that may help us to determine the origins of these fires.“

After McCain said at a press conference that there was “substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally,” U.S. Forest Service Officials rushed to dispute his charge. Spokesman Tom Berglund told ABC News “there’s no evidence” indicating immigrants had any role in the fire.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sen. Kyl has repeatedly come to McCain’s defense this week, and continues to stand by their debunked claim that undocumented immigrants are to blame for the Arizona wildfires. He reiterated that position today on Hugh Hewitt’s conservative radio show. When asked what he thought of McCain’s comments, Kyl said, “Well, he was correct. I was right there.” [He's the one who said it!]

He went on to broaden the circle of guilt-by-suspicion to “drug smugglers,” saying “a lot of these fires are said to be, or we have substantial evidence, they’re caused by drug smugglers and illegal immigrants.” Like McCain, Kyl cited the Border Patrol and the Forest Service as the basis for his claim, even though the Forest Service has directly disputed it.

Well, as we all know, "it was not intended to be a factual statement."

h/t Cheri