Several arrests made during Mesa library overnight raid

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 See RAW video of the overnight raid

Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies reportedly arrested several people early Thursday at the City of Mesa Public Library and City Hall
 
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, at a press conference Thursday afternoon said the operation was sparked from a several month long investigation after they were tipped by a former City of Mesa employee.

Deputies raided the two buildings at about 2:30 a.m.  They arrested 16 people, all of whom are undocumented.  The Sheriff says several of those are being investigated for identity theft.

"There seems to be a culture in Mesa where they don't want me to come in and they don't want to enforce illegal immigration laws," said Arpaio.

Arpaio says the person who tipped them off originally told a police Lieutenant concerning forgery cases but that Lieutenant said it was the cleaning company's issue.

Mayor Scott Smith spoke out at a news conference late Thrusday saying the Sheriff never informed anyone in the city or police department that the raid was going to take place.  He says it could have been dealt with better and felt the raid put officers and citizens created a safety concern.

"It is one thing to enforce the laws," he said "It's another to put people at physical risk."

A spokesperson for the city issued a statement about the raids saying that it involved non-city employees who were hired by an outside contractor for janitorial services. That company is Management Cleaning Controls, which has its office in Phoenix.

MCC also contracts with retail stores.  The Sheriff says this is the second investigation of employer sanctions violations in which Mesa officials have contracted for services by illegal immigrants. 

MCSO reports that several arrests were made and additional search warrants will be served in connection to the employer sanctions related investigation.

Bryan Soller, president of the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, commented on the raid saying that the way the Sheriff's Office handled it was inappropriate and dangerous for their officers because the department wasn't notified in advance.

"All of a sudden you have a big Sheriff's contingency over here and they're going into buildings," Soller said.  "Our officers didn't know if they should be backing up those deputies and there was a lot of confusion which creates a safety issue."

Soller adds that he believes the Sheriff's actions were motivated to get publicity before the election.

Sheriff Arpaio told reporters "I can't fight illegal immigration alone with the County Attorney.  If they're not going to do it, the Sheriff will do it."

Mayor Smith said he was disappointed by the Sheriff's actions.

A city spokesperson said they will look into the cleaning company but at this point are not sure if the company is responsible for wrongdoing.
 

City of Mesa response to MCSO raids

"The City of Mesa is fully committed to enforcing all laws, including state employer sanction and federal immigration statutes. The City utilizes outside contractors to perform many services. All of the City’s contracts require these outside contractors comply with all state and federal employment laws, including the state employer sanction statute. Specifically, the City’s contract mandates that outside contractors “insure that all [their] employees have a legal right to live and work in the United States,” and keep appropriate records demonstrating their compliance.   

This morning at approximately 2:00 a.m., law enforcement representatives from Maricopa County entered the Mesa City Hall and Main Library presenting search warrants relating to possible infractions committed by non-City employees who were hired by an outside contractor to perform janitorial services. The County also served a search warrant this morning at 8:00 am at the City’s Municipal Security Badging office seeking records related to the same contractors.

The information demanded by the County in their search warrants is readily available to the public, media, and other government agencies through standard information requests. The City routinely provides such information when requested to do so."