Arizona county sheriffs Paul Babeu and Larry Dever defend themselves against pro-amnesty interest groups and federal government lawsuits

A non-partisan, non-profit organization – The Legacy Foundation – has agreed to raise money and provide legal defense to assist Arizona county sheriffs Paul Babeu and Larry Dever defend themselves against pro-amnesty interest groups and federal government lawsuits filed to prevent Arizona law enforcement officials from implementing SB1070, Arizona’s new illegal immigration law and to explore potential counter-litigation.

Dever’s county borders Mexico. Babeu’s county is a major corridor for human and drug smuggling. Both men are strong 1070 advocates, having served on the frontlines of the illegal immigration crisis and defended the American border against the stream of illegal-immigration-fueled criminal activity passing through their counties daily, for more than a decade. Dever’s Cochise County is largely considered Ground Zero for illegal immigration and its related crime, including the murder of rancher Robert Krentz.

Babeu and Dever have retained prominent Conservative Attorney Jordan Rose and her firm, Rose Law Group pc, to defend the Sheriff’s Offices against federal litigation and explore any/all opportunities to countersue the federal government.

“We are grateful to be able to provide the Sheriffs with the most aggressive and creative legal counsel as the lives of their men and women are on the line each day trying to enforce our laws,” Rose said.

The announcement was made today on a radio show hosted by Jim Sharpe on 550 KFYI in Phoenix. Sharpe has been a long-standing defender of 1070 and a caller’s suggestion on his show was the genesis of the fund. Sharpe has explored the hypocrisy of the federal government suing a state over a law that mirrors its own – with added safeguards against racial profiling that the federal law doesn’t include.

Funding for the legal defense will be provided by the Legacy Foundation an Iowa-based, non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) that views Arizona ’s SB1070 debate as a national issue. Donations can be made at

www.bordersheriffs.com

The Offices of Cochise County Sheriff Dever and Pinal County Sheriff Babeu are named personally in the lawsuit recently filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. These Sheriffs stand on the front lines of the border crisis given their patrol areas. And whereas the Arizona Governor is mounting a defense to recent litigation against the state, these men have been on the defensive for more than 30 years given a failed border-security and immigration program. They’ve declared it’s time to find a long-term resolution to this problem.

“I have spent 30 years defending this border against both criminal and economic attacks against the United States,” Dever said. “To sue my office, for defending this nation and our local, state and federal laws is despicable.”

Babeu added, “Inaction is not an option. Local law enforcement has long-successfully enforced local, state and federal laws. Carving an exception for immigration is unacceptable.”

Lawsuits filed against Arizona and its law enforcement officials stand to cost the taxpayers millions of dollars. This defense will be funded not by already-tapped county coffers, but through private donations.