Joe Arpaio

This is a great country. You're trying to tell me we can't keep people from coming into our country if we really had the desire to do it? I don't buy it.

I want to go to Mexico. I've been stonewalled, so far, by federal officials. I want to go to Mexico, and I want to meet with the top Mexican officials. I want to tell them my past experience and what I can do here as Sheriff to help them get better intelligence and communications on the drug thing, not the illegal immigration thing.

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 can get along great with the Hispanics. In fact, I sure would like to meet them, even the politicians, maybe in the back room or whatever, have a couple of beers and try to explain. But they need to understand that I enforce the laws. I want to listen to them and hear their problems. I want them to tell me what their problems are.

Every two years for Congress, four years for President, illegal immigration comes out as a political issue.

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.

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.

But hey, controversy - well, it hasn't hurt me in 50 years.

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.

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.

Everything I did in the jails - chain gangs, everything - I haven't changed the policy. I did it, I stand by it, and I'm not going to change.

I will continue to enforce all the laws, including illegal immigration. Nothing changes.