On the eve of the Republican presidential primary debates in Mesa, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has been making the rounds, explaining his relationship with his ex-beau Jose, who outed the sheriff in Phoenix New Times on Friday. Jose alleged that once his love affair with Babeu went south, Babeu’s lawyer threatened him with deportation if Jose went public about their long affair. This is Jose’s side of the story.

Understand that Jose doesn’t speak a lot of English, so when he said the sheriff threatened him with deportation, he didn’t go into the nuances of immigration law that he may understand better than most of us.

Remember that Babeu,  an  ambitious congressional candidate, came out  on Saturday and blamed Jose’s allegations on  his political enemies trying to destroy him. The sheriff said he’d  never threatened Jose with deportation.

But the sheriff also repeatedly said in public that Jose had  committed  “identity theft” by hacking into Babeu’s social media accounts.

If you’re a Mexican immigrant living in the Phoenix area, the mere words “identify theft” conjure up deportation.

Identity theft is a felony.  Sheriff Joe frequently slaps felony identity theft charges on immigrants caught up in work place raids. Sheriff Babeu understands the law.

Immigrants residing legally in the United States, as Jose apparently is, still can be deported if found guilty of a felony.

It’s unclear why Babeu, the self-professed immigration  hawk  who keeps accusing Jose of identity theft, didn’t turn his case over to another law enforcement authority for prosecution.

Unless, of course,  Babeu  didn’t want the publicity.