Janet Napolitano blocks Sheriff Joe Arpaio's funding for immigration enforcement

Much of the money for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration-enforcement efforts lately has poured out of a special pool of state money.

But New Times has learned that Governor Janet Napolitano's turning off the spigot.

In what appears to be a prelude to a major fight between Napolitano and Arpaio, the governor issued an executive order last week to develop a new task force--headed up by the state Department of Public Safety--to find and arrest tens of thousands of felons with outstanding warrants.

And, according to a letter from DPS Director Roger Vanderpool to Arpaio outlining the new effort, the task force will be funded with the money that Arpaio isn't getting anymore...

Arpaio said the governor, along with officials in Phoenix and Maricopa County, "conspired to take away ... money that the state Legislature and the (county) Board of Supervisors approved specifically to enforce human smuggling laws, money my office needs to fight illegal immigration."

He said Napolitano's decision to create the felony warrant task force is "a cover-up for taking away grant money to fight illegal immigration," calling the move "despicable.''

Napolitano spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer denied that the Democratic governor was trying to cut into efforts to stop illegal immigration.

"It couldn't be further from the truth," L'Ecuyer said.