The courageous Trail of Dreams students are at it again. Having completed a 1500 mile trek from Miami to Washington fighting for their cause to end the deportation of students and separation of families, the student activists traveled to Arizona to request a meeting with the controversial, anti-immigrant Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Watch as some of the students explain their motivation for scheduling a rendezvous with “America’s Toughest Sheriff”:
The students got a chance to explain their stories and voice their concerns, and received a surprising response.
The Arizona Republic reports:
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio met Tuesday in Phoenix with a small group of college students from across the nation protesting America’s immigration laws – a discussion that produced tears, hugs and laughter.
Arpaio said he is compassionate toward the plight of undocumented immigrants but that he will continue to enforce the immigration laws that are on the books. The five student activists said that as children they were brought into the country illegally by their parents. The five recently walked from Miami to Washington, D.C., meeting with law-enforcement officials and political leaders along the way. After arriving in the capital, they came to Arizona and requested a meeting with Arpaio.
Arpaio said the students’ quest for immigration reform would have to start at the national level.
Surprised that the students were so willing to embrace the Sheriff with a hug , we asked them via Twitter if it was really true, to which they responded (Via twitter):
“Yea! First step to beat hatred in our enemies is to acknowledge humanity in them so they may witness the humanity in us.”
Surprisingly, the Sheriff encouraged the students to continue their fight, stating:
“You keep fighting the fight, make sure you get to D.C. and talk to the politicians.”
It’s unclear exactly what sort of progress Sheriff Arpaio would like to see them make, however, given his long history of abuse, racial profiling, and hijacking real immigration solutions with cheap political stunts.
By Guest Blogger Will Sharry.
