Former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio will visit the University to speak about his time as sheriff and discuss topics such as immigration, drugs and sex trafficking.
Arpaio’s speech is hosted by College Republicans United at ASU on Nov. 29 and is open to everyone. Arpaio has maintained his popularity and influence among right-wing supporters despite losing three consecutive bids for elected office after losing his position as sheriff in 2016. He announced his bid for mayor of Fountain Hills in August.
Arpaio will cost metro Phoenix taxpayers $273 million for racial profiling during his time as sheriff by 2024. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a total of 1,900 internal affairs investigations following a federal judge’s order after Arpaio was found to have profiled Hispanic people with traffic patrols that targeted immigrants.
The event description said Arpaio will speak about the "flooding of dangerous illegal immigrants." In an Instagram post, Arpaio also said he is coming to the University to discuss the importance of free speech.
"The mission to secure free speech at our universities continues," Arpaio said in a post promoting the event.
Arpaio is also known for his treatment of incarcerated people under his regime. Arpaio created "Tent City Jail," in which inmates lived outside, supporting Arpaio’s platform as 'America’s Toughest Sheriff' during his 24 years in office. Tent City was shut down in 2017.
CRU invited Arpaio to visit campus in 2020, along with inviting noted white nationalist Jared Taylor to speak on campus last year. Both events were met with protests outside of the events.
READ MORE: Student groups once again condemn CRU's campus visitor
Despite both CRU at ASU and College Republicans at Arizona State University believing in the need to elect more Republicans, the two organizations differ on the way the Republican party can best appeal to college-age voters.
Isaac Humrich, a senior studying political science and the chairman of Arizona College Republicans, said Arpaio, who is 91 years old, isn't necessarily the future of the Republican party.
"I don't particularly think that Mr. Arpaio is the future of the Republican Party," Humrich said. "And quite frankly, I don't think he would think so either."
CRU did not respond to requests for comment.
Edited by Damian Goacher, Walker Smith and Shane Brennan.
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