Arizona’s new immigration law doesn’t take effect till this summer, but Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (famous for putting prisoners in tents and feeding them green bologna) has wasted no time in starting the bandwagon:

MCSO Sweep Nets 89 Arrests On First Night

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio launched his latest crime and immigration sweep on Thursday, this time in west Phoenix.

One by one, accused criminals and illegal immigrants were carted into a sheriff’s van. There were a total of 89 arrests — 61 of them suspected of being in the country illegally.

But despite the fact that the majority of arrests involved Hispanic-looking people, Arpaio said this is not racial profiling.

“We do not go on a street corner and grab people because they look like they are from another country,” said Arpaio.

Outside the training facility, where he staged his 15th crime suppression sweep, Arpaio did have his supporters.

“I think that we’ve had enough terrorizing, raping, clubbing of American citizens — we’re tired of it now,” said Betty Tillman.

But on the other side of the street, nearly a dozen demonstrators demanded these crime sweeps end.

“The mixture of Senate Bill 1070 and Joe Arpaio’s tactics will be a disaster here in Maricopa county,” said Orland Arenas.

“Should I run for Governor?” Arpaio at one point asked the protesters from the other side of an iron fence.

“I think you need to retire, Sheriff Joe,” one shouted back.

Arpaio seemed to enjoy the jeers as much as the cheers, at times taunting the protesters and then later claiming they wouldn’t let him talk.

“Even if those critics say, ‘You should not do this sheriff because of all of the controversy,’ I’m not going to bend down for any critics or politicians because of the controversy going on,” said Arpaio.