El Monte’s new police chief withdraws amid criticism of immigration stance

EL MONTE >> More than a week after officials announced that Eric McBride would be the city’s next police chief, the top cop-to-be abruptly withdrew his candidacy amid sharp criticism of his stance on undocumented immigrants. 

McBride’s decision came after immigrants rights activists over the weekend began to rally opposition against him because of anti-illegal immigration policies he pushed while he served on the Hemet City Council from 2006-2010.

“This selection is a slap in the face of the community and it is dangerous given his radical views on so-called illegal immigration,” El Monte resident and activist Veronica Tomas-Castro said. “This is a community of immigrants and we are just shocked that we would have Joe Arpaio as a police chief,” she continued, referencing the controversial sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.

In 2010, McBride, then Hemet mayor, introduced a resolution in support of Arizona’s controversial anti-illegal immigration law. That law, SB 1070, requires police officers to check the immigration status of everyone they stop if they suspect the person might be an undocumented immigrant. 

“I have always forged strong relationships with the communities I’ve served, including immigrant communities,” McBride said in a statement. “But given the political dynamic this is raising, I want to be respectful and just remove myself as a candidate.”

http://www.sgvtribune.com/government-and-politics/20150217/el-montes-new-police-chief-withdraws-amid-criticism-of-immigration-stance