Shearing time: Let's go hyper-local Arizona

The original post of this name and URL was written in 2010. My 2026 update begins at the "Click here for more" jump.

It's that time of year again. In September, Navajo sheep herders start coming down from the mountains north of Valley of the Sun. I hope they're psychologically well-prepared for news of the big city:

• a broken dam due to burst bladders at Tempe Town Lake ("bladders"?)
• $1,000,000 price on the head of Maricopa County's Sheriff Joe by the usual Mexican cartels/drug lords
• the ever popular (no, not really, only to me and Sheriff Joe Arpaio!) Arizona Senate Bill 1070, also known as Arizona Immigration Reform.

To commemorate shearing season, this post provides an extravaganza of gentle sheepy imagery, from varied sources. Well, I admit, from two sources: a Zazzle merchant and Amazon.com. The images were so nice, I thought you might enjoy looking at them too.

Hmm... I need to find a better source for illustrations than re-purposed advertisement images, especially since I don't participate in any online ad program. I'm definitely not a Zazzle or Amazon-affiliate website.

A sweet sheep

Consider this a follow-up to my post referencing findings by the Floating Sheep blog.

OMG Immigration police seen detaining people denied asylum

Deporting illegal aliens

U.S. Customs Enforcement and Immigration officers are caught by the local Phoenix affiliate of ABC News, ABC15, in the act of DOING THEIR JOB! Just look at what is going on in downtown Phoenix today.

This is a Breaking News report. According to the ABC15 live action reporter,

Our crews at the scene on Wednesday morning saw agents waiting outside and detaining people as they exited the building. ABC15 spoke with a few of the people who were being placed in vans, who said they initially came to the courthouse for asylum cases, which they say were then dismissed.

Is case dismissed a good outcome? 

The reporter asked questions of two women being assisted to their seats in one of the white vans. Through the assistance of a Spanish interpreter, both said that they had gone to court for hearings of their request for asylum cases; the immigration judge had "dismissed" both cases. One woman was from Venezuela, another from Mexico. 

Asylum hearings are not like civil lawsuits or non-immigration related criminal charges!  Dismissal of a lawsuit or criminal indictment would be a GOOD thing for a defendant. Dismissal of a request for asylum would NOT be a good thing for an asylum seeker. If dismissal were the outcome of these immigration court hearings, then arrest and deportation would follow. 

ABC15 doesn't seem to realize this, as they "reached out to officials to find out why people were being detained or arrested".

Asylum as shortcut to migration

The consequences of illegal entry (i.e. deportation) are held in abeyance if one claims to be seeking asylum in the U.S. Until the presidential administrations of Obama or maybe, G.W. Bush, this sort of asylum seeking was rare, and mostly sought by citizens of Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War. 

As of 2018, an estimated 11 million illegal aliens resided in the U.S. including the Obama-declared DACA aka Dreamers. Between 10 and 20 million asylum seekers joined them during the four years of Joe Biden's presidency. Be aware that the entire U.S. population is about 330 million men, women, and children. 

11 + 15 = 26 million illegal non-citizens residing in our country means that 7.9% of the people in our country lack legal status.

Not-so-developing story

Performance improvement in state-funded healthcare for children

I noticed a job listing the other day, as "Director, Performance Improvement". It would likely be an intellectually satisfying and fulfilling employment opportunity. The job is a full-time, direct hire position with Health Services Advisory Group Inc. (which goes by the unfortunate acronym, HSAG and pronounced as H SAG), in Phoenix, Arizona.

My previous work in public health was with the Office for Children with Special Health Care Needs (OCSHCN), where I was an employee of the Department of Health Services of the State of Arizona (AZDHS).  My title was Statistical Research Chief, and I had a staff of two programmer analysts. 

OCSHCN and and its associated managed care program, the Childrens Rehabilitative Service (CRS), were in charge of most aspects of program management, including retroactive clinical assessments by nurses, as well as provider contracting decision-making. Arizona's Medicaid agency, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) provided billing support and auditor oversight.

In addition to performance evaluation and utilization management, I enjoyed a diverse range of duties that included epidemiological studies, PHI (Protected Health Information) security, pharma utilization, and provider payment (and beneficiary claim) fraud detection. However, the downside was that it was very difficult to work with the independence required to do performance and quality assessor for OCSHCN, while an employee of the program itself.

Programs funded by the U.S. HRSA Title V Block Grant for Women & Children

Arizona Immigration Law

As you can see in the sidebar, my Annex is located in Arizona. I am part of the majority of the people of the State of Arizona in favor of our recently passed immigration law.

I am also a Jewish woman, and know the difference between the Nazi modus operandi of World War II versus the intent of Arizona Senate Bill 1070. Apparently, the current general manager of the Phoenix Suns, our local NBA basketball team, does not know the difference. Yesterday, he compared Arizona law to Nazi Germany. It bothered me, a lot.

Today, I was pleased to read this succinct description via a now-moribund website about our immigration law, AZ SB 1070:

...[SB 1070], according to constitutional lawyers, mimics federal immigration. All it does is give local authorities the same enforcement ability afforded to federal law enforcement.

Also,

Did you know that every non-citizen in the US has been required to carry 'proof of status' documents since Congress passed the Alien Registration Act in 1940?

And finally,

... an Arizona State University constitutional law professor who helped to draft this Arizona bill states that law enforcement officers "may not consider race, color or national origin" in making any stops* or determining any aliens' immigration status. That is in the bill...

Why has there been such a backlash in the national media? Perhaps it is because residents of other states do not have personal exposure to the impact of illegal immigration on their economy in a myriad of ways. Our current governor is Republican. There was support amongst non-Republicans too; approximately 70% were in favor of the bill.

AZ SB 1070 is merely a state-level mirror of already existing federal law, which is applicable in most instances, nationwide.

* Yes, I acknowledge that it would be difficult for police to avoid using appearance (as the basis for probable cause) in initiating an immigration document request.