U.S. Immigration Laws: Homeland Security Curtails Sheriff's Powers

[forum_admin]

The Department of Homeland Security has revoked the special immigration enforcement contract it had under Federal Law 287g with Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona.

An October 6 press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office reported that “the decision to curtail the Sheriff’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent status emanates from as high as the White House,” which is no surprise given President Obama’s support of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

The move by Homeland Security ostensibly stems from complaints that sheriff’s deputies have engaged in racial profiling. But a 2008 audit of the law-enforcement operations supposedly fraught with racial bias found no violations.

http://www.mcso.org/include/pr_pdf/2...%20Release.pdf



Joe Arpaio has been the focus of protests by immigration and human rights groups, citing his overreach of power and poor treatment of immigrants in his custody.

Joe Arpaio, a sheriff in Arizona known for his rabid anti-immigration stance and poor treatment of undocumented immigrants in his custody, has lost the federal power to enforce immigration law—a power reserved for federal agents, not county sheriffs.

The revoking of powers is criticized by pro-Arpaio forces as “political” move by the Obama administration, while others make the point that federal officers enforce federal laws, such as immigration, while state and county officers like Arpaio traditionally enforce state and county laws.