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Immigration Law

: Greg Siskind's Blog

HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CALLS ON JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO INVESTIGATE SHERIFF JOE

By Greg Siskind

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Sheriff Joe may have finally gone too far. Sally Kohn describes his latest antics at Huffington Post:

This week, having already done everything imaginable to turn himself into a national right-wing celebrity by terrorizing undocumented immigrants, Sheriff Joe turned to the unimaginable. For a pre-arranged media circus, he paraded -- that's right, paraded -- undocumented immigrants wearing humiliating old-fashioned prison uniforms and shackles out of the county jail to a "tent city" where they are now being held and awaiting court. Just as Arpaio rounded up immigrants in the county through widespread racial profiling, he has carried that racism to detention by segregation -- and singling out -- Latino immigrants.

The House Judiciary Committee has had enough. They're calling on the Justice Department to investigate. America's Voice is applauding the move:

America?s Voice applauds the announcement that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will be calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct a federal investigation into the immigration enforcement actions of Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio has engaged in racial profiling in heavily Latino neighborhoods and recently paraded immigrant detainees through the streets of Phoenix in order to segregate and relocate them to a ?Tent City?.
The Committee also asks the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to review the agreement that DHS has signed with the Maricopa County Sheriff?s Office under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This agreement gives the Sheriff authority to enforce federal immigration laws, but does not provide permission to use racial profiling or other tactics that might violate an individual?s constitutional rights. Below is a statement from Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America?s Voice:
?The Joe Arpaio approach to law enforcement is un-American and ineffective. His actions are the perfect example of why the federal government needs to take back control of immigration enforcement and pass a practical immigration reform law that secures our borders and legalizes undocumented workers. It?s welcome news that the U.S. House Judiciary Committee will begin a federal investigation into his unlawful tactics. Arpaio is a modern day Bull Connor and his publicity-seeking crusades have made the Latino community scared and Maricopa County less safe by prioritizing racial profiling over executing the felony warrants that have piled up on his desk.?

?His most recent scheme, rounding up immigrants and shipping them off to separate "tent cities," is just the latest in a career filled with dangerous and anti-Latino demagoguery. Thankfully, Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and other members of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives will be able to catalog the range of his abuses he has heaped on the residents of Maricopa County and will hopefully bring long-awaited justice against a man who appears to not understand the word.?

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on February 15, 2009 (boomark / email).