PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff's office, under the watch of Sheriff Arpaio, mistakenly deported an undocumented immigrant facing burglary charges.

Twenty-eight-year-old Luis Garcia-Villegas was offered by law enforcement officials voluntary deportation to Mexico, after he, along with another man and a 17-year-old were arrested by police for burglarizing the South Phoenix furniture store, La Bodega.

Maricopa County officials said they were unaware of the charges against Garcia-Villegas however crime victim Antonio Casillas was infuriated that such a mistake was made.

Officials were reported to be working on finding Garcia-Villegas and returning him.

PHOENIX — The Town of Guadalupe, which became famous for defying Sheriff Joe Arpaio's efforts to conduct hunts for undocumented immigrants where 51 percent of the residents are Hispanic and 49 percent are Yaqui Native American, is without police services.

The contract between the Sheriff's Office and the Town of Guadalupe was canceled by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. However, town officials wanted 60 days to negotiate with the Sheriff before deciding definitely to terminate the contract.

Once the contract is on track for termination, the town has 180 days, until March, to negotiate a deal that is mutually agreed upon or the contract will end. The vote to end the contract was instigated by Sheriff Arpaio as a result of his confrontation in April with the Town of Guadalupe's former mayor Rebecca Jimenez.

The new mayor, who was chosen after Mayor Jimenez lost a recall vote, wants to work with the Sheriff since the dissolution of the contract leaves the town without any guaranty of public safety. The cities of Phoenix, Tempe and the state Department of Public Safety have all told Town of Guadalupe officials that due to financial and staffing shortages they are unable to help provide police protection to the Town's residents.

With Hispanic Heritage Month fast approaching, most media outlets are hard-pressed to come up with a new way to observe the annual celebration.

The editors of the Arizona Republic figured out a way to give the observance a fresh angle while also providing an outlet to hear from some voices that too often get shuffled or muffled aside — and all it cost them was some pizzas and sodas.

Twelve Latino youth gather at the offices of the Arizona Republic to discuss what it means to be Hispanic.
(Source: azcentral.com)

Staff at the newspaper interviewed 12 young people in what they dubbed a "Hispanic Youth Round Table." There were only two ground rules for the young participants — be "honest and transparent."

The newspaper's editors said:

We met Alex Villalobos, who doesn't speak a lick of Spanish but on weekends dons traditional mariachi garb and performs with a Valley Ballet Folklorico dance troupe. And Bianca Ballejos, who wants to be an evangelist and help unite races and cultures, but who until recently was racist against “Mexicans.”

To read what each young person had to say about what it means to be Hispanic to him or her, follow this link and click on the headline Latino youths speak out on being Hispanic in America.