They are a rare sight in America these days, but if you are lucky you may spot a bumper sticker asking, “Where’s the birth certificate?”
That’s what Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is still asking, and on Wednesday he requested the support of the US Selective Service System as part of the continuing exploration of President Obama’s legal status.Many “birthers” believe there is a substantial amount of evidence that President Obama was born in Kenya in 1961 and strongly believe his birth certificate was fabricated to make him suitable for the presidency.“I have spoken of the need to enlist the aid of other agencies,” Arpaio said in a press release. The controversial sheriff is hoping to have the support of Selective Service System Director Lawrence Romo to “conduct a concurrent investigation to verify the authenticity of this document.”He believes if Romo is able to provide the original highly sought after document, Arpaio feels he can determine its authenticity. According to Arpaio, members of the group “Surprise Arizona Tea Party” came to him last year asking for his help to investigate Obama’s birth certificate. Due to the lack of a government agency going on record for looking into the matter, he gladly agreed. On the contrary, Hawaiian officials have repeatedly confirmed Obama’s citizenship but that didn’t stop the sheriff.He decided to utilize his “cold case posse volunteers” to begin the investigation, which he emphasized was at “no cost to the taxpayers.” The team was made up of members of his office which received extensive law enforcement training. With this task force he hoped to have Obama cleared of the controversy and put the American people’s minds at ease.And on March 1, the sheriff of Maricopa County announced after a thorough six-month analysis into the legitimacy Obama’s birth certificate, his team determined the document was most likely a “forgery.” “Failure to register or otherwise comply with the Selective Service registration process is a serious offense,” Arpaio said to the press. “The law says a person who fails to register can end up with a $250,000 fine, five years imprisonment and is ultimately prohibited from holding any job in government,” he continued.In addition to the birth certificate, the Republican sheriff is now claiming that Obama’s Selective Service registration form from 1980 is a probable fake as well. Many feel that Arpaio’s action against the president confirm the accusations by The Department of Justice that the sheriff is involved in “unconstitutional policing” of the Latino communities in Arizona.Critics say he is targeting Obama because he is black and people claim this would never be the case if the president’s origins weren’t African.“We found discriminatory policing that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department,” said Thomas Perez the Justice Department’s civil rights head said.