Joe Arpaio Quotes & Sayings

“I needed a place to put the dogs. The prisoners ruined the jail, so I put the prisoners in the tents and I had a nice place to put the dogs. We treat the cats nice too, and horses. I have the inmates take care of the animals. It's therapy too, you see.”

“This is the sheriff you're talking about, with a gun and badge that enforces the law. Nothing is going to stop me from cracking down on illegal immigration as long as the laws are there.”

“I'm elected. I don't report to any politician. I report to the people. If I had to report to any politician, I'd quit tomorrow. I'm not tall, dark and handsome. They don't vote for me because I look like a movie star. I can't get that vote. People keep voting for me because they like what I do.”

“I am the constitutionally and legitimately elected sheriff, and I absolutely refuse to surrender my responsibility to the federal government.”

“I would have liked to see where we would have the authority to arrest illegal aliens just by being here illegally and book them into our jails, but that's not going to happen.”

“So you don't speak English, you have no ID, you can't tell where you're from... that's suspicion, it's lower than probable cause. And then we have a right to call immigration and check you out.”

“I used to have trust with reporters. Give them scoops. Those were the old days. It's very strange, when you give a story and it doesn't come out the right way.”

“I would hope to get together with the Latino community, if I could ever have them talk to me without screaming and threatening me. So I hope to get together with the community and try to explain what we do, so that's going to be one of my missions coming up.”

“If a nation's security is only as strong as its weakest link, then America may be in serious trouble. Hawaii may be our weakest link and could have a serious impact on our nation's immigration policy.”

“I have compassion, I've told you people that over and over again. Enforcing the law overrides my compassion.”