By now you've heard about Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's plan to use his posse to round up illegal aliens in the Phoenix area. The Sheriff has already arrested about 120 illegal aliens and charged them with conspiracy to smuggle themselves into the country.

What you probably haven't heard about is the lawyer who's been brought in by Mexico to defend those Arpaio has arrested. In fact, that might have been by design. Consider this intriguing paragraph from Amanda Lee Myers of the AP in "Ariz. Posse to Arrest Illegal Immigrants":

A Los Angeles attorney brought into the case last week by the Mexican Consul General's Office in Phoenix plans to file another motion claiming Maricopa County Attorney officials are violating state and federal law because it's the federal government's job to control illegal immigration.

Isn't it odd not to name the attorney? Aren't most attorney's, you know, publicity hogs?

I had to search through a few articles, but I finally found out who Mister Mysterioso Esq. is, in the Arizona Republic's "Migrants challenge smuggling charges":

On Friday, a Los Angeles attorney brought into the case by the Mexican Consul General's Office in Phoenix will file another motion to dismiss charges claiming Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is violating state and federal law and using the conspiracy charges to control illegal immigration, which is the federal government's job...

"(Thomas) was elected to be a county prosecutor, not the head of the federal Department of Homeland Security," said Peter Schey of the LA-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

Those related links have more on Mr. Schey, whose CHRCL is collaborating with the Mexican government on a site called the "Mexico Project" at vocesunidas.org. He also argued Plyler v. Doe before the Supreme Court. Because of that case, illegal aliens are entitled to receive K-12 education and, of course, that's served as a huge magnet for illegal immigration and greatly helped give the Mexican government a safety valve for their unwanted population.

5/9/06 UPDATE: See this disturbing PDF from the CHRCL: portal.sre.gob.mx/ime/pdf/IV.8_Anexo.pdf It offers advice on how the Mexican government can fight "vigilante" groups, including doing opposition research.

And, from this:

A prosecutor seeking to convict dozens of illegal immigrants for illegally crossing into Arizona has accused the Mexican government of organizing legal efforts to dismantle a state law targeting immigrant smugglers.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas says the Mexican government has arranged for a lawyer to challenge his legal opinion that illegal immigrants suspected of using smugglers to cross into the state can be charged as conspirators.

The lawyer also argues that the state can't regulate immigration.

Thomas has asked the U-S State Department to protest the Mexican government's alleged involvement in the case.