Local activists are planning to protest Tuesday when federal officials bus undocumented immigrant children to an Arizona boys ranch, organizers said Monday, in a scenario reminiscent of demonstrations earlier this month in Murrieta, California.
While stressing that Sycamore Canyon Academy in Oracle, Arizona, near Tucson, took no position on the immigration debate, Ike Shipman, the academy’s executive director, confirmed late Monday that “a small number of unaccompanied youth from Central and South America” would be arriving Tuesday for temporary housing pending placements with sponsoring families or deportation.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said in a statement that “whistleblowers” at the Department of Homeland Security had told him to expect 40 to 60 unaccompanied minors. While he promised to make sure the protest was peaceful, Babeu added: “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. Local residents have every right to be upset and to protest.”
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