Sheriff Joe Arpaio Recruits Big Names For Border Posse

"America's toughest sheriff," Phoenix's Joe Arpaio, is creating an armed "Immigration Posse" to combat illegal immigration, and Hollywood actors Steven Seagal and Lou Ferrigno, along with Dick Tracy and Wyatt Earp, have signed up.

Fighting Justice Department accusations that his office discriminated against illegal immigrants during arrests, Sheriff Arpaio said the civilian posse of more than 50 members gives citizens a chance to fight the problem inundating their border state.

"Law enforcement budgets are being cut and agencies are losing personnel and yet the battle to stop illegal immigration must continue," said the sheriff, who heads the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. "Arizona is the busiest port of entry for people being smuggled in from Mexico, Latin and South America. So asking for the public's help in this endeavor makes sense, especially given the success the posses have experienced over the years."

Fifty-six new Immigration Posse members from various professions were sworn in by the sheriff Wednesday as "illegal immigration fighters."

Mr. Seagal, who starred in such action movies as "Under Siege" and "Above the Law," is a sworn deputy in New Orleans. Mr. Ferrigno, who played the title role in the 1970s TV series "The Incredible Hulk," works as a reserve deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. Another new civilian volunteer is Peter Lupus, who starred in "Mission Impossible."

"These guys are busy with their acting careers, so I don't expect them to be here on duty very often," Sheriff Arpaio said. "But they can be instrumental in heightening public awareness of the immigration issue and encouraging others to join the posse's effort to help reduce the flow of illegal immigrants into our communities."

The sheriff also said Dick Tracy, a retired Chicago police official who now lives in Arizona, has joined the posse, along with Wyatt Earp, a Phoenix resident whose uncle was the Old West lawman of the same name.

The Justice Department lawsuit, filed in September in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, was the latest chapter in a bitter feud between Justice and Sheriff Arpaio, who is accused of failing to turn over documents sought since March 2009 that federal prosecutors say comply with its probe of purported discrimination, unconstitutional searches and seizures, and English-only policies in his jails that discriminate against those with limited English skills.

The sheriff has described the lawsuit as "harassment," saying thousands of pages of documents have already been turned over by his office to federal prosecutors.     

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