Blink and you could miss Guadalupe, which is less than one square mile on the edge of Tempe. But it was once a flashpoint in the controversy surrounding former Maricopa County Sheriff Arpaio and his immigration patrols — the patrols he failed to stop after a judge’s order. Arpaio has now been convicted of criminal contempt.
“My mom says that it’s good, because — well, it’s not good for him,” said 10-year-old Juan Ramirez, interpreting for his mother, Gladys Velasquez, at a local restaurant.
Through her son, Velasquez said locals in this mostly Latino town were scared of Arpaio.
“And some immigrants also don’t like to pass near here because the sheriffs always come near this place,” Ramirez said, again for his mom.
Over at Mr. Monkey Sale$, a general store filled with piñatas, owner Mario Ochoa said the sheriff’s deputies never hassled him. But he said they did profile his customers.
Ochoa hopes the court makes Arpaio understand the fear many people lived in here.
“They could make him feel what everybody else feels,” Ochoa said. “Put him in Tent City. Put him with the pink underwear. He says the food was really good in Tent City. Let him try.”
Arpaio will be sentenced Oct. 5, but legal experts doubt the 85-year-old will see any jail time.
