“Hazing Arizona” Arpaio’s Jails and the Death of David de la Fuente

My former colleague and friend Aura Bogado’s reporting on Arizona, Arpaio and immigration hit the front page of Mother Jones Magazine’s website yesterday. The article, “Hazing Arizona,” was based on months spent tracking down stories of the state’s misguided policies long before SB 1070 ever hit our national consciousness. Perhaps her most shocking find was the story of David de la Fuente. Immigrants, as you will learn, don’t just die attempting to cross the border.

De la Fuente was in Arizona when he was pulled over and detained for providing a false driver’s license. He came down with pneumonia – alternating between searing heat and a frigid cell – while in Arpaio’s Durango detention facility. Found to be without papers, he was deported without any regard to his deteriorating condition. Back in Mexico, de la Fuente died of complications that were too far gone to be successfully treated by Mexican doctors.

Read the story of David de la Fuente as well as others in Arizona online and be sure to check out the accompanying photo essay: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/07/sheriff-joe-arpaio-maricopa-county-sb-1070

It’s a damn shame this man, Joe Arpaio, was allowed to visit Santa Ana a few months ago while developers and city leaders played “deaf, dumb and blind.”

About Gabriel San Roman