Latino activists in Arizona celebrate Sheriff Arpaio’s defeat

Latino activists in Arizona celebrated Tuesday night as Joe Arpaio lost his bid for a seventh term as Maricopa County sheriff.

“The victory against Arpaio is a testament to the work of the people in Arizona and the resistance of those who he sought to deport and criminalize,” Tania Unzueta told Yahoo News late Tuesday. Unzueta was among several undocumented organizers with the Bazta Arpaio campaign to defeat the notoriously anti-immigrant sheriff.

Unzueta, who moved to the U.S. from her native Mexico at age 10, is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy passed through executive action by President Obama in 2012. DACA offers two-year work permits and protection from deportation to qualifying undocumented immigrants who were younger than 16 years old when they entered the U.S.

As Unzueta and the rest of the Bazta team celebrated Arpaio’s defeat, Donald Trump, who has promised mass deportations, harsh immigration restrictions and, of course, the construction of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, looked increasingly poised to win the presidency.

“For the rest of the country, how immigrants and people of color have fought in Arizona is an example to follow,” she said, looking beyond Maricopa County to the national election. “If people can survive and win in Maricopa County, we can survive the coming fight.”