Arizona Sheriff Defends His Comments on Immigrant Kids
The immigration crisis on the border is spreading to Small Town U.S.A.
In Oracle, Arizona, a town of roughly 3,700, protesters faced off Tuesday at Sycamore Canyon Academy, a nearby boys ranch that is to be used as a temporary housing facility for the immigrant minors, according to CNN affiliate KOLD.
"We already have our hands full fighting the Drug Cartels and Human Smugglers. We don't need unaccompanied juveniles from Central America being flown into Arizona – compliments of President Obama," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said earlier in a statement on the department's Facebook page.
CNN's Chris Cuomo challenged Babeu about these comments and others on "New Day" Wednesday saying the official is "villainizing these kids."
Babeu responded by saying his statements are based on the fact that last year 300 – 400 violent criminals were released into his county.
"This is my experience," he said.
"My job is to protect the families of my county and not to protect the families of Central Americans."
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RELATED: Not in my backyard: Communities protest surge of immigrant kids
"Morning Minute" with Michaela Pereira – July 16, 2014
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And here's a rundown of the top stories from today's show:
Jose Antonio Vargas: My Detention Wasn't a Stunt
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant who was detained at a southern Texas airport this week said Wednesday the incident wasn't a stunt.
Asked how it was possible that he didn't know he would get extra scrutiny at the border airport, Jose Antonio Vargas told CNN's "New Day" that he didn't anticipate being detained in McAllen, Texas, after visiting a shelter where undocumented immigrant children were being held.
"Is it a stunt to get on a plane to leave to try to get out of south Texas?" he asked. About his detention, he added: "That's the risk undocumented people take every day."
On Tuesday, U.S. Border Patrol agents detained the journalist-turned-activist at the McAllen airport after he told them he was in the country illegally, officials said.
Vargas became an outspoken advocate pushing for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in 2011, when he revealed he was undocumented - having entered the United States from the Philippines as a child - in a column for The New York Times Magazine.
Vargas at the very latest knew by last week, after he'd arrived in McAllen on Thursday, that he might have difficulty leaving the area by plane or by land. In a piece that we wrote for Politico, he said acquaintances informed him after he arrived that border patrol agents check IDs at the airport, and that immigration checkpoints are set up along roads within 45 miles of the city.
Five Things to Know for Your New Day – Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Egypt tries again to broker a Mideast cease-fire deal. An immigration protest erupts in Texas. And Dick Cheney says don't impeach Obama.
It's Wednesday and here are the 5 things to know for your New Day
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