Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, left, orders approximately 200 convicted illegal immigrants handcuffed together and moved into a separate area of Tent City, inmates behind Arpaio, for incarceration until their sentences are served and they are deported to their home countries Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009, in Phoenix.
Justice Dept. Investigates Arizona Sheriff for Enforcing Immigration
CNS News
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an investigation of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona following requests by congressional Democrats and allegations by liberal activists that the department has violated the civil rights of illegal aliens.
Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Robert Scott (D-Va.) requested the investigation, and activists groups such as National Day Laborer Organizer Network and ACORN launched petition drives and rallies in support of the probe.
The investigation focuses on Sheriff Joe Arpaio and dozens of officers under his command who were trained through the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Agreements of Cooperation in Communities to Enhance Safety and Security (ACCESS), which partners federal and local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. (The Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division is known popularly as ICE.)
In a letter dated March 10, 2009, Loretta Smith, acting assistant attorney general at the DOJ, detailed what her department would be investigating:
“The investigation will focus on alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures conducted by the MCSO, and on allegations of national origin discrimination, including failure to provide meaningful access to MCSO services for limited English proficient (LEP) individuals.”
“In conducting the investigation, we will seek to determine whether there are violations of the above laws by the MCSO,” the letter says.
Concerning the DOJ’s investigation, Arpaio told CNSNews.com:
“I will not back down. What I am doing is upholding the laws of the state of Arizona, and I will not be persuaded to turn my back on my oath of office as sheriff of this county.”
In an August 2008 press release, Arpaio’s office detailed those results.
“While the Sheriff’s illegal immigration and human smuggling operations conducted on the streets and roadways here have netted nearly 2,300 arrests, another very successful effort to locate illegal aliens has been quietly happening inside Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails,” the release said.
It continues: “Despite the growing criticism of the Sheriff’s illegal immigration fight by some valley politicians and activists, Sheriff Arpaio says 60 detention officers trained by ICE officials have conducted over 106,000 interviews and investigations of inmates booked into jail since April of 2007.
“In those 18 months, 16,000 inmates were determined to be illegal aliens. Either they have already been deported or will be deported after being tried and/or serving their sentences for crimes committed in the valley. The work being done be Arpaio’s detention staff is a likely contributor to the recent reduction in crime in the valley,” the press release added.
“That number of 16,000 represents a full one-third (1/3) of all inmates in the United States who have had holds placed on them after being identified by jail or prison officials as illegal aliens.”
The press release goes on to say that 20 percent of inmates in the Maricopa County Jail are illegal aliens and that of those, 2,000 illegal aliens – 70 percent – were arrested for felony crimes.
Those felony crimes committed included the following: forgery, 12 percent; kidnapping, 10 percent; aggravated assault, 7 percent; driving under the influence, 7 percent; drug charges, 27 percent; robbery, 3 percent; murder, 3 percent; and theft, 4 percent.
The Democratic Congress members have also asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to launch an investigation into the training provided by ICE.
Wild Thing’s comment………
Four leftist congressmen, who are not from Arizona filing a civil rights complaint against a duly elected Sheriff. I don’t know about three of them but Conyers is a member of the Communist party the Progressives. Dang I truly can’t stand these people. And it is a disgrace that they are allowed to run for office. Communists have filled our government and I am sick of it. It should be reversed and there should be an investigation of the FOUR Democrats and ACORN.
This is under Obama’s reign of socialism so he is to blame too!!!!!! They sure blamed Bush for everything under the sun and so shall I blame OBAMA, Barack HUSSEIN Obama.
Sheriff Joe just doing the job that Washington does not want to do or is taking pay offs to look the other way.
Rep Conyers D-MI,,,, follow the money trail.
They are quite aware of what they are doing;the idiots are all those American who sat idly by, and refused to vote against the OBAMAnation that is being forced upon us.The hard leftists see that they have the power to carry out their agenda;and unlike Republicans,the leftists are not afraid to USE that power!
“civil rights of illegal aliens”
I thought so called civil rights referred to constitutional rights granted to citizens of the US. What is the legal basis to provide rights to those who come to our country illegally and disobey and disrespect our laws. This issue of civil rights has become so convoluted that our taxpayer dollars are spent on “civil rights” and “entitlements” without any support yet the rights specifically enumerated in the constitution like the right to bear arms, freedom of speech and freedom of religion are being taken away.
Now we see why Napolitano was put in that position. This is part of it. An Icon of Law Enforcement is one of the first to be destroyed by the Obama administration. But of course, that is part of Obama’s agenda.
I love Sheriff Joe. This country would be far better off if only a tenth of the population had his guts.
….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.
Mark
3rd Mar.Div. 1st Battalion 9th Marine Regiment
1/9 Marines aka The Walking Dead
VN 66-67
Conyers and his wife are both Masterpieces of Depravity. His home state, Michigan, is going to hell in a hand basket and he’s worried about criminals who violated our nations laws.
If Sheriff Joe were to resign, Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, would become a war zone. It’s bad now and without Sheriff Joe it will be much worse.
I found the article to be very sad. Sheriff Joe is a damn good man. He’s a patriot. He cares about what happens to this land we call home. Illegals have no civil rights here, nor any American rights. They have no right to be here, period. Should we allow someone just to come into our homes and push us around when our homes are private property? Is this what Obama wants? I guess so. Seems it’s easier to file a suit against an honest man who works an honest day than to get Obama to cough up his birth certificate! I applaud Sheriff Joe. He’s tough and hard as nails and the illegals and other criminals need to realize that if you break the law we are not going to make it easy for you. I think all prisons should follow Joe’s lead-tent cities, pink clothing, nutraloaf, nothing on tv but the Disney channel and the weather channel, chain gangs. Chain gangs used to work you know. You earned your way off, not easily, but you could if you worked hard enough. Joe even gives them a chance to earn their way into the big house by working hard and not complaining. But the illegal wussies just whine like babies and the lefties come running-“oh you poor baby, let me kiss it and make it all better!” The only time anyone should hear that is when you’re under 10 years old and you fell and hurt yourself and it should be from your mother!
It would be to funny if these 4 a*&wipes went to Maricopa County did something illegal and Sheriff Arpaio threw them in jail. Fat pig scum Nadler would look good in pink underwear.
I forget the clip but it had to do with sheriff Arpaio telling the inmates not to whine about being in hot tents, our troops are in hot tents, fully armed and don’t complain. Not exactly what he said but close.
Bob A.
Good one Lynn-“easier to file a suit against an honest man who works an honest day than to get Obama to cough up his birth certificate”.
We need more Sheriff Joes and quickly. Extreme violence is about to break across our southern border. When it does our jails are going to burst beyond capacity. Joe Arpaio knows how to handle that situation. Instead it looks like the Democrats are going to railroad him like Ramos and Compean got railroaded.
Dumbass democrats, always got to stick their face into what is none of their business.
They are afraid Arpaio may discourage future democrat voters by deporting the illegal drug dealers.
And ACORN just got a free hand out of 4 Billion bucks so I guess they are trying to show some influence. Acorn is as useless as a steer at a cow mating contest.
Mark,
As a boss I had said “as useless as a boar hog without Tits” He was very tough but as you got to know him a marshmallow. When he passed away I was asked to be a Pall Bearer and was happy and proud to be so.
Bob A.
Correction actually as useless as “tits on a boar hog”.
Bob A.