Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he is the victim of a politically motivated attack by the Obama administration. That after the Justice Deptartment issued a report saying Arpaio’s office has carried out a blatant pattern of discrimination against Latinos.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio Transcript …
“This is a sad day for America as a whole. Today, the federal government moved to do everything it can to put this agency out of the illegal immigration enforcement business. We are proud of the work we have done to fight illegal immigration. We have been responsible for finding and identifying 25% of the nations’ illegal alien criminal offenders in our jails. Sadly much of that work will no long be permitted by the Obama administration.
Today the federal government has canceled our 287(g) agreement. That means that we are no longer able to verify the immigration status of any criminal offender brought into our jails. This was a program responsible for detecting over 44,000 illegal alien criminal offenders since 2007 — many of whom we can assume were deported by ICE officials back to their county of origin.Now with the cancellation of this agreement, illegal criminal offenders arrested and brought into our jails will go unetected and ultimately dumped back on to astreet near you. For that you can than your federal government. By their actions today, President Obama and a band of his merry man 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.'”
According to the ICE website, the 287(g) program, one of ICE’s top partnership initiatives, which allows a state and local law enforcement entity to enter into a partnership with ICE, under a joint Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The state or local entity receives delegated authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdictions.
Arpaio was responding to a report by U.S. Justice Department. Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez, who heads the department’s Civil Rights Division, said a three-year civil investigation found that the Sheriff Arpaio and his deputies engaged in unconstitutional conduct and violations of federal law that jeopardized the sheriff’s “commitment to fair and effective” law enforcement.
The report claimed patterns of unlawful conduct, including a failure to implement policies guiding deputies on lawful policing practices; allowing specialized units to engage in unconstitutional practices; inadequate training and supervision; an ineffective disciplinary, oversight and accountability system; excessive force; inadequate investigation of sexual-abuse cases involving illegal-immigrant victims and perpetrators; and a lack of sufficient external oversight and accountability existed in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO).
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