SHERIFF'S REMARKS DIVISIVE?

Hispanic Leader Says So

Butler County Sheriff Rick Jones has a habit of ticking people off
with his views on immigration.

This weekend was no different.

After a recent trip to Cochise County, Ariz., Jones, who is on a
national sheriffs committee on immigration issues, said he wanted the
public to know exactly what he saw and what his friend Sheriff Larry
Dever told him about the Mexican border there.

So, in YouTube-esque fashion, Jones posted a video on his Web site
(www.butlersheriff.org/illegals/mex-border.htm).

"Don't believe all these people are coming for a better life," Jones said.

Drug dealers are paying undocumented immigrants to smuggle marijuana
and cocaine over the mountains and across the border, he said.

"The illegals are humping this ... over the mountains and bringing it
from Mexico into the United States. Once they get across the border
in these cities, they can go less than 100 yards and blend into the
community. You don't know where they are," Jones said.

Those comments didn't sit well with a group of Hispanic immigrant
leaders gathered in Cincinnati through today to discuss solutions to
immigration issues in the United States.

"What he does is what others are doing - basically blame the
immigrant for the social and economic ills that this country is
facing, especially the middle class," said Jorge-Mario Cabrera,
director of communications for the National Alliance of Latin
American and Caribbean Communities.

"Immigrants are not to blame for the ills, but instead they are being
scapegoated."

Cabrera agrees with Jones that the federal government isn't acting
fast enough to deal with immigration issues.

But he thinks Jones' outspoken approach is divisive.

"He misses the opportunity like a number of people are doing to be
creative and to add a positive contribution to the debate," Cabrera said.

"I don't think expressing frustration and anger is going to do anything."