After the U.S. Justice Department released a report on Thursday claiming that Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office carried out a pattern of racial discrimination against Hispanics in Arizona, Mr. Arpaio responded Friday by accusing the Obama administrations of essentially welcoming undocumented immigrants to the U.S.
The Justice Department’s began an investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in June of 2008, to determine if Mr. Arapaio’s office was illegally enforcing it’s tough illegal immigration laws against Latinos in Arizona. The investigation was launched after numerous citizen complaints from Arizona residents of Hispanic descent.
“As outlined in our findings letter, we found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of violating the Constitution and laws of the United States in 3 areas,” Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said during a press conference Thursday.
“First, we found that MCSO engages in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing; specifically, MCSO engages in racial profiling of Latinos, and unlawfully stops, detains and arrests Latinos. Second, we found that MCSO unlawfully retaliates against people who criticize its policies and practices,” Mr. Perez added.
“Third, we found reasonable cause to believe that MCSO operates its jails in a manner that discriminates against Latino inmates that are limited English proficient,” Mr. Perez stated.
The report also states that Mr. Arpaio’s law enforcement practices enact “sweeps,” where they patrol areas known to have large concentrations of Latino citizens and detain them without probable cause, and eventually throw them in jail for being undocumented or suspecting them of being illegal immigrants.
Mr. Arpaio responded to the report during a news conference, and was unapolegetic for his suspected discriminatory practices.
“President Obama and the band of his merry men might as well erect their own pink neon sign at the Arizona-Mexico border saying ‘Welcome all illegals to your United States’, our home is your home,” the Maricopa County sheriff stated.
He also vowed that he will never resign, and that there were some instances where his staff did not comply with federal regulations.
The U.S. Justice Department has given Mr. Arpaio 60 days to implement changes to his enforcement practices of the Arizona illegal immigration law, or the MCSO will risk losing federal funding.
