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Judge to hear arguments in Arpaio's lawsuit

Sheriff Joe Arpaio's met on Tuesday with a group of college students protesting America's immigration laws - a discussion that produced tears, hugs and laughter.

But it's likely little will change on either side of the immigration debate after the feel-good get-together.

Arpaio said he is compassionate toward the plight of undocumented immigrants but that he will continue to enforce the immigration laws that are on the books.

"I was elected to do a job," Arpaio said. "My job overrides my compassion."

Arpaio cast himself as a dutiful servant of what legislators want and suggested the students approach members of Congress if they want those laws to change.

Gaby Pacheco, 25, instead asked Arpaio to become an ally with supporters of immigration reform in the hopes that a high-profile law-enforcement official like Arpaio would carry more weight than a handful of college students.

Pacheco tried appealing to Arpaio's softer side before giving the self-proclaimed America's Toughest Sheriff a hug at the end of the 45-minute meeting.

"We went up there and showed our humanity to a person who for many years has been criminalizing our communities," Pacheco said after the meeting. "We must make sure that we allow for him as a brother who has been strayed away to come into the light."

The activists all said they were brought into the United States illegally as children but touted their contributions to the community and commitment to continue their college educations.

The five student activists came to Arizona as part of the protests that took place during Memorial Day Weekend, which drew thousands of marchers to downtown Phoenix.

The students began their journey walking from Miami to Washington, D.C., where they met with law enforcement officials and political leaders along the way.

Juan Rodriguez, 21, a native of Colombia, told Arpaio how law enforcement officials on the East Coast described immigrants in their communities as assets. The students said they also met with members of President Barack Obama's administration

After walking to Washington, D.C., the students rode to Arizona where they requested a meeting with Arpaio.

The five students were outnumbered 10-to-1 by their supporters and members of the media as a scrum formed in the lobby outside the Sheriff's Office prior to the meeting, but Arpaio's time with the activists was calm and contemplative. Arpaio shared memories of working in Colombia and Venezuela during his time with the Drug Enforcement Administration; the students told Arpaio he knew more about their native countries than they do.

"If you deport me to Venezuela, I'd have no idea where to start," said Carlos Roa, 22.

Arpaio said the students' quest for immigration reform would have to start at the national level.

"You keep fighting the fight, make sure you get to D.C. and talk to the politicians," he said.

Two more judges joined a list of accusers Friday in filing a notice of claim against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and other Maricopa County officials over an alleged abuse of power.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judges Barbara Mundell and former presiding-criminal Judge Anna Baca say they were two targets of Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas' efforts to accuse multiple judges of bribery, obstructing justice and hindering prosecution.

The claim said Arpaio's actions were based on revenge against these judges for ruling against the sheriff in proceedings. While the cases against Mundell and Baca have been abandoned, the judges claim they have been defamed through "unjustly" accusation and have suffered lasting damage to their reputations.

Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox and her husband, and Supervisor Don Stapley and his business associate Conley Wolfswinkel, have also filed notices of claim against the county because of investigations by Arpaio and Thomas.

By AMANDA LEE MYERS

Associated Press Writer

updated 12:56 p.m. MT, Thurs., May 6, 2010

Protests, grand jury challenge Sheriff Joe Arpaio

By JACQUES BILLEAUD | Published: 02/28/10 at 12:00 AM | Updated: 02/28/10 at 12:06 AM

PHOENIX (AP) — With a sheriff’s helicopter beating overhead, the man known as “Sheriff Joe” stood behind a line of officers as 10,000 people marched past — but this was not the usual show of affection and support for Joe Arpaio.

“Joe must go! Joe must go,” whole families chanted, as they rounded the corner in front of the county jail complex run by the five-term Maricopa County sheriff famed for his confrontational tactics, his harsh jail policies and a gift for publicity. The parade of mostly brown-skinned people wanted to show they hated his trademark immigration patrols.

For years, Arpaio has been the rare politician whose popularity remained rock solid no matter the criticism. He was the self-proclaimed “America’s toughest sheriff,” unbeatable at the polls.

Today, however, some indicators have changed for the 77-year-old lawman — and it’s not just the marching in the streets.

His soaring approval ratings dropped to 39 percent in one recent poll. Critics are emboldened by a federal grand jury that’s examining abuse-of-power allegations against him and a second federal investigation that he says focuses on his immigration enforcement.

Arpaio and Andrew Thomas, the top Maricopa County prosecutor and a chief ally, face intense criticism for mounting what many people see as a political blood feud. They filed criminal charges against two county supervisors and the county’s presiding criminal judge, and they’ve also ignited a spate of costly lawsuits. Arpaio and Thomas say they can’t ignore credible allegations of corruption.

The charges against one supervisor were dismissed by a judge on Feb. 24. Thomas said he would seek to have charges against the other two officials dismissed and planned to turn the three investigations over to special prosecutors.

County Manager David Smith said sheriff’s investigators went to the homes of 70 county and court staffers on nights and weekends last year in an attempt to intimidate.

Arpaio’s message was clear, according to Smith: “We know where you live. We know where to find you. Do something we don’t like, and you’re at risk.” Fear was behind a decision by county officials to sweep their offices for possible listening devices, at a cost of $14,000; no bugs were found.

Dozens of lawyers rallied outside a courthouse in late December to protest the criminal charges against Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe. And a prosecutor from a neighboring county who took over an earlier case against one county supervisor eventually turned against Arpaio and Thomas, likening their actions to “totalitarianism.”

Thomas said he wasn’t worried about his allegiance to the sheriff. “The only thing I worry about is making sure I’ve done my utmost to do my job,” the prosecutor said.

In the eyes of critics, Arpaio is a racist bully driven by a hunger for publicity who has helped manufacture criminal charges against people who crossed him politically. They say he treats powerless people harshly because it’s popular with voters.

But to his supporters, he is a standup guy who is doing what the public wants and is motivated by nothing more than a sense of duty. They say he’s the only local police boss who has gotten off his duff to do something about illegal immigration and local corruption.

Love him or hate him, Arizonans are buzzing with one question: Will this latest round of controversy bring Sheriff Joe down?

Arpaio’s response: He has survived other storms.

In a voice that sometimes evokes John Wayne, he attributes his longevity to a strong work ethic and a willingness to speak with reporters, which helped make him a nationally known figure. He also brags about his success in raising $1.2 million in campaign money over one year in a down economy.

He plans to seek another term in two years. “If people don’t want me, go vote for somebody else,” Arpaio said. “But it ain’t going to happen.”

___

He wasn’t always Sheriff Joe.

After a stint in the Army, the native of Springfield, Mass., worked as a police officer in Washington and Las Vegas until he was hired by the federal agency that would become the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He went to Turkey to try to infiltrate opium producers, made stops in San Antonio, Baltimore and Boston, and became a regional director in Mexico City, where his job was to persuade Latin American governments to go after traffickers. His final stop was as the DEA boss in Arizona.

After retiring from that job and then helping his wife, Ava, run her travel agency, Arpaio decided to run for sheriff and unseated the incumbent in 1992.

Early on, he won points with voters for housing inmates in canvas tents during Phoenix’s triple-digit summer heat, making them wear pink underwear, banning cigarettes and porn magazines, and serving a green bologna diet. He created old-time chain gangs. Complaints mounted about brutality in his jails.

One case came in Arpaio’s first term. Scott Norberg, jailed in 1996 for allegedly assaulting a police officer, died during a struggle with detention officers who had bound him into a restraint chair and pushed his head into his chest.

The county and its insurance carrier paid $8.25 million to settle a lawsuit over Norberg’s death, which had been ruled accidental by asphyxiation by the county medical examiner. As in other, similar investigations into deaths in Arpaio’s jails, no charges were brought against the officers involved. “They did nothing wrong,” Arpaio said.

Michael Manning, a lawyer who won $20 million in damages for five deaths at Arpaio’s jails, said the sheriff created a culture of cruelty inside the walls and that he masterfully plays on prejudices against illegal immigrants. And yet the public repeatedly has re-elected him and so shares blame, Manning said

“You can’t escape the fact that if people would read and understand more about politicians like Arpaio, fewer would vote for him,” he said.

Sheriff Joe loves to stick it to critics, whose complaints he calls “garbage.”

During the Jan. 16 protest outside the jail, Arpaio drew a horseshoe-shaped phalanx of TV cameras while the marquee name on the other side, singer Linda Ronstadt, also grabbed attention.

To prevent the protest from inspiring disruptions among inmates, the sheriff cranked up music inside — with a Sheriff Joe twist: He blared one of Ronstadt’s records.

“I let people know I’m the sheriff,” Arpaio said, pronouncing his title as “the SHUR-ff.” ”I’m not a social worker.”

___

Since early 2008, Arpaio has run 13 crime and immigration sweeps — sending as many as 200 deputies and volunteer posse members into a designated locale to set up a mobile command post and seek out traffic violators, people wanted on criminal warrants and others.

He launched one sweep just a day after his federal immigration arrest powers were taken away.

Arpaio used state immigration laws to enforce his two latest sweeps, but now says he has the inherent power to enforce federal immigration law. He recently called a press conference to announce plans to train all 881 of his deputies to crack down on illegal immigration.

Mayors of some cities have complained that they didn’t want or need the crackdowns in their communities and accused Arpaio of targeting Hispanics on minor infractions, like having a broken headlight.

In April 2008, when Arpaio’s deputies poured into the town of Guadalupe, then-Mayor Rebecca Jimenez challenged the basis of the patrols, squaring off with him as a TV camera rolled.

“You came under false pretenses,” Jimenez said, gripping an Arpaio press release.

Arpaio denied the charge that his immigration efforts are more focused on skin color than on violations of law. He pointed out that his parents immigrated from Italy, that he was the target of slurs about his heritage when he was a kid, that his daughter-in-law is Hispanic.

He said critics call him and his deputies racists because they have no defense of illegal immigration.

“I just happen to be catching the people from Mexico because they are the ones we come across,” he said.

Thomas P. Morrissey, a retired federal agent who has been a friend of Arpaio since the early 1990s and eats lunch with him once a month, said the sheriff is popular because he responds to the community’s needs.

“He is doing the job that people want him to do,” Morrissey said.

Clearly, Arpaio retains much support, even in seemingly unexpected places.

Hector Reyna, a self-employed welder who came here 25 years ago as an illegal immigrant and has since become a U.S. citizen, said Arpaio won his vote in 2008 because the sheriff busted drug dealers in his neighborhood. “He is the only man Hispanic criminals fear,” Reyna said.

But Joe Delgado, a retired manufacturing worker who once favored Arpaio’s tent jails, said he’d soured on Sheriff Joe because of his raids on businesses suspected of hiring illegal immigrants, leading some to move back to their home countries. “That bothers me, because they made my old neighborhood nice,” Delgado said. “They really fixed it up.”

Even supporters of his immigration efforts like state Sen. Russell Pearce, a former top deputy under Arpaio, acknowledge concern. “You always have to be worried,” Pearce said. “If they are going to investigate whether you have crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s on every issue, I doubt there is anybody without fault.”

Arpaio has easily won re-election, and his approval ratings held strong for years — with polls by Arizona State University saying he hovered around 80 percent in 2000 but dropped to 60 percent in late October. A more recent survey by the Behavior Research Center found Arpaio’s approval rating dropped from 54 percent in late July 2008 to 39 percent in January.

In any case, Arpaio plans to run for a sixth term in 2012.

“Even though his support has declined, I believe he would be considered a favorite, but it depends on what the opposition comes up with,” said ASU pollster Bruce Merrill. So far, Democrats haven’t even come up with a candidate to oppose the Republican sheriff.

Arpaio sees his removal from office as a matter solely up to the voters and invokes his favorite tune — “My Way,” the Frank Sinatra version — to explain his philosophy on his future.

“‘My Way’ is my way, because the people want me to do it that way,” Arpaio said. “Sometimes, I’ll try to change the lyrics when I try to sing it, ‘I took the blows and did it your way.’ Instead of mine, I’ll say your.”

The federal grand jury may ultimately decide whether it’s Arpaio’s way or the highway.

Asked directly if it wouldn’t be easier just to retire, Arpaio pondered the subject for a moment. He took a deep breath and sighed. Once out of office, he wouldn’t get many calls from reporters, and the public wouldn’t care about him anymore.

“Everybody is going to forget Sheriff Joe,” Arpaio said. “So what’s left? What is left that motivates me to continue on, and there’s only one thing: The people want me. I feel very good when I walk down the street. People come up and say, ‘Thank you.’”

___

Associated Press Writer Paul Davenport in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Tribune File

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office did not comply with county procurement policies or spending guidelines when it spent $456,000 during a spending freeze for a custom-made bus for moving inmates, according to a recently issued special audit.

Now the sheriff's office and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which has refused to approve the bus' title and registration, must come to an agreement on what to do with it.

Arpaio defies feds, continues W. Valley sweep

The county's audit department suggests the sheriff's office sell the bus, purchased in October 2008, while the sheriff's office wants the board to put it into operation.

Lisa Allen, sheriff's office spokeswoman, said the sheriff's office could take on the cost of licensing and insuring the bus itself.

"We followed procurement code, we did nothing malicious, we did nothing intentionally to try to aggravate them," Allen said.

Richard de Uriarte, the county's communications office manager, said the audit speaks for itself.

"As far as future options, our legal staff will analyze the issues raised in the report. I can't speculate right now on what the board members might do after that analysis is completed and they have been briefed," de Uriarte said.

The bus has been parked since May at a county facility in southwest Phoenix.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio has contended that the board refused to approve the bus in June as payback for his investigation of Supervisor Don Stapley, who was accused in a December 2008 indictment of not disclosing financial information he was required to as an elected official. That case has since been dismissed by the prosecutor, and the sheriff's office has opened a second investigation of Stapley alleging fraud and theft in connection with campaign funds.

The county imposed a spending freeze for all major purchases in July 2008 for all judicial branches, elected offices and appointed departments.

The board is responsible for the county's $2.2 billion budget and allocates money to the various departments, expecting them to live within their means.

The board, however, cannot dictate how other elected officials spend their money.

The money for the bus came from the Jail Enhancement Fund, which comes from court fees and allows sheriffs throughout Arizona to spend at their discretion on their jails.

Arpaio wrote in a response to the audit that the board and county management have no say on what can be purchased with the funds and they aren't subject to the capital purchasing freeze or the usual county-wide procurement procedures.

"The purchase of the MCI bus was not made maliciously or as an attempt to usurp the policies of the Board of Supervisors," Arpaio wrote. "The purchase was a business decision to get critical equipment quickly."

Allen said the sheriff's office has never had any problems making purchases with the jail funds, including a $250,000 purchase for a fence.

The audit stated that the sheriff's office did not get prior approval from the board for the bus purchase or approval from the Office of Management and Budget for an exemption to the spending freeze, both of which are required.

MCSO also failed to get board approval to buy without getting sealed bids.

"There is no evidence that the bus was acquired for the best price, or that procurement controls meant to protect and account for public funds were followed," the audit states.

Grand Jury Impaneled To Probe Arpaio, MCSO

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Accused Of Abusing Power

POSTED: 4:35 pm MST January 7, 2010

UPDATED: 8:11 am MST January 8, 2010

PHOENIX -- The Department of Justice has impaneled a grand jury to look into allegations of abuse of power by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, according to subpoenas sent to at least two county officials.

Watch: MCSO Allegations Lead To Federal Grand Jury
Interactive: Who's Who Of Investigation Subjects

Maricopa County Manager David Smith and County Budget Director Sandi Wilson both said they had been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury next week to testify about their interactions with the Sheriff's Office.Federal officials have been investigating whether Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office are using their power to retaliate against critics -- a subject at the center of a recent 5 Investigates report.At the time, several people -- including Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon -- confirmed they had spoken with the FBI about the subject."The Sheriff's Office starts an investigation and goes looking for a crime," said Smith. "Most agencies see a crime then start an investigation."The Sheriff's Office launched criminal investigations into Smith and Wilson as negotiations over its budget heated up in February 2008."We had a lot of discussions with the sheriff," Wilson said. "They did not want to cut their budget, and I think as the economy worsened -- and they knew it was inevitable that we were going to (cut) it -- they became more and more angry with me."Smith called the sheriff's deputies "out of control.""(They) have an aggressive agenda of targeting people who disagree with them," Smith said.Wilson agreed."I'm relieved that I've been called to be a federal witness because I really don't want to see this happen to anyone else," she said.A grand jury is impaneled at the end of an investigation to determine if a crime has been committed. If it believes there is sufficient evidence that the crime was committed, it will hand up an indictment.Proceedings, which can last for months, will remain secret until the grand jury decides whether to issue an indictment.Attempts to contact the Sheriff's Office for comment on the subpoenas were unanswered.

Joe Arpaio's Deputies Admit Destroying Evidence in Racial Profiling Lawsuit

By Stephen Lemons in Feathered Bastard

Sat., Nov. 21 2009 @ 9:50PM

Nixon redux: Document shredding, deleted e-mails. What's next, secret tapes?

In a stunning revelation recently made public as part of the ongoing federal civil rights lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an MCSO sergeant has admitted that the department has been destroying documents and e-mails directly related to the MCSO's anti-immigrant sweeps. This, despite numerous requests by the plaintiffs' lawyers for those documents and e-mails since the beginning of the Melendres v. Arpaio suit in December 2007.

During an October 27 deposition of Sgt. Manuel Madrid, a supervisor and founding member of the MCSO's infamous Human Smuggling Unit, Madrid admitted that he had been deleting e-mails related to the sweeps and shredding so-called "stat sheets" submitted by individual deputies and posse members. The Human Smuggling Unit takes the lead in all immigration raids and sweeps, and Madrid was one of those responsible for compiling data on the dragnets.

In that deposition, part of which was made public Friday as part of a massive 132-page motion by the plaintiffs seeking sanctions against the MCSO's defense, Madrid stated that the destruction of evidence continued at least till the recent October 16-17 sweep in Surprise. Below is a small excerpt from Madrid's questioning under oath by a lawyer for the plaintiffs:

Q. After the sweep from about two weeks ago, were you given stat sheets by the individual officers who participated?

A. Yes.

Q. And do you still have them?

A. No.

Q. What did you do with them?

A. I believe I shredded them.

Madrid made clear that he destroyed all stat sheets as a matter of course after collecting data from the sheets, which included information on stops made by sheriff's deputies, any criminal arrests, citations issued, and the number of hours the deputies worked. The stat sheets also included a section for notes by the deputies or posse members involved.

Those remarks are not collected by the MCSO, and so are now lost, thus damaging the plaintiffs' ability to prove that the department is racially profiling, which is the point of the lawsuit. Other pertinent information is lost when those stat sheets are shredded, as well as the ability to cross-reference them with the final MCSO reports.

Under oath, Madrid copped to deleting e-mails concerning the sweeps whenever his e-mail box got full. Madrid testified that he had never received an order from higher-ups instructing him to save requisite e-mails or to retain stat sheets.

Additionally, in a November 4 affidavit from Madrid's boss Lt. Joe Sousa, the Human Smuggling Unit's top dog, Sousa admits that after the information on the stat sheets was transferred to a "master data sheet," the stat sheets were "discarded."

Yet, attorneys for the Phoenix law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, lead counsel in the case involving several racial-profiling victims -- a case that's been joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund -- have made numerous requests for such documents in letters to Arpaio's lawyer Timothy Casey, and in court pleadings.

"Defendants shredded the stat sheets even while receiving multiple requests from plaintiffs for these documents," reads the motion filed Friday by Steptoe & Johnson. "Plaintiffs identified these materials for preservation and production in July 2008, and served Rule 34 document requests for them in February of 2009."

The motion maintains that a "litigation hold" should have been placed on such documents by MCSO honchos at the beginning of the suit in 2007. Nevertheless, the shredding continued. After the February 2009 request "defendants produced a smattering of these records." However, Madrid's testimony indicates that the destruction of evidence went on far after that.

Steptoe & Johnson lawyers David Bodney and Peter Kozinets have also sought immigration and sweep-related e-mails to and from Sheriff Arpaio, Chief Deputy Brian Sands, and Chief Deputy David Hendershott. But defense attorney Casey insisted in a November 4 letter to Kozinets that such e-mails from the upper echelon do not exist. That would mean no e-mail communication to or from these three MCSO big shots concerning immigration enforcement for the last two years.

Casey's reply to the charge that the MCSO has been destroying evidence was that the plaintiffs didn't need that evidence anyway.

"Your charge of evidence destruction by Sgt. Manuel Madrid or the MCSO is hyperbole," Casey informs Kozinets in the November 4 letter. "Whether the MCSO kept individual stat sheets from July 21, 2008 to the current date is immaterial to the successful prosecution of the plaintiffs' case."

Yet on November 12, presiding Judge G. Murray Snow issued an order authorizing the plaintiffs to file a motion seeking sanctions on the defense based on the admission that evidence had been destroyed.

"Counsel for Defendants," wrote Snow, "acknowledges that requests for such documents were transmitted to the MCSO as of July, 2008, and further acknowledges that, despite this request, the `stat' sheets that are prepared by individual officers during the course of the `crime suppression sweeps' or `saturation patrols,' have not been maintained by the Defendants. It is also possible, but less clear, that e-mails discussing these operations have also been deleted by the Defendants."

Snow ordered both parties to "take affirmative steps to prevent the destruction of" other documents relating to the sweeps. The plaintiffs are seeking attorneys' fees, and are asking that the depositions be reopened in light of Madrid's admission. They also want the judge to draw "appropriate adverse inferences against the defendants," meaning that the judge would assume that the destroyed evidence had been harmful to the defense's case.

Judge Snow's November 12 order can be read, here. The plaintiffs' November 20 motion is available, here.

Joshua Lott/Getty Images Sheriff Joe Arpaio:

A Torturer On U.S. Soil: Arizona's Sheriff Arpaio by Hector E. Sanchez

Tough or cruel?

August 27, 2009

As debate escalates over the CIA's alleged mistreatment of detainees abroad, and evidence continues to pile up, the issue of torture challenges American values. Ironically, a person comes to mind who terrorizes children, women, families and an entire community, but he is doing it right here on U.S. soil. He is on the loose and has been at it for years. What's worse is that he has a badge and a gun. A son of immigrants himself, he exploits the issue of undocumented migrant workers to gain national attention and pushes the levels of abuse, denigration, humiliation, physical cruelty and absurdity to new heights. Meet Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona — self-proclaimed "America's toughest sheriff." Arizona is home to some of the most ruthless anti-immigrant laws and to a wide range of nativist and xenophobic groups. If there is one person who clearly represents the anti-immigrant sentiment in the state — and the nation — that person is Arpaio. With a constant infatuation with media attention, Arpaio does not shy away from nurturing his macho, egotistical idea of a "tough" sheriff, even if it is at the expense of undocumented migrants. Arpaio has proven to be a pernicious person who contradicts basic American values Since he became sheriff in 1993, Arpaio has exploded the number of inmates in the county — not by jailing dangerous criminals but by imprisoning undocumented workers, most of whom are not yet convicted of a crime but are awaiting trial. When he filled up the jail cells, to avoid hurting his popularity by spending taxpayer money, he built tents in the middle of the Arizona desert, where temperatures can reach up to 130 degrees. He deprived the inmates of basic necessities and reduced the meals to two per day while cutting the cost of each meal to 30 cents. He boasts that "it costs more to feed the dogs." Under such conditions, inmates are always hungry and have suffered drastic physical repercussions; one teenager reported losing 50 pounds since he was incarcerated. Undocumented migrants also rarely have visitors, not only because of the culture of fear but also because of the sheriff's policy. A sign outside reads, "Illegal Aliens Are Prohibited From Visiting Anyone In This Jail." Denigration and mental abuse have also reached new and surreal heights. The best example is the number of occasions on which he has marched hundreds of undocumented migrants, chained together, through the streets and the desert — in front of the media. One time, the sheriff forced a group to march wearing only pink underwear and flip-flops. He also formed female chain gangs.

Arpaio's obsession with undocumented migrants has affected the Latino community as a whole in the region. Arpaio has pushed racial profiling to ludicrous levels — physical appearance to him is enough to stop and question people, and he commonly conducts raids in Latino neighborhoods. Such harassment has created a major culture of fear among Latinos. A number of civil rights groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, sued Arpaio over racial profiling of Latinos in Maricopa County. However, "America's toughest sheriff" may not be as tough with all criminals. Response times in cases of life-threatening emergencies have slowed under his jurisdiction. Arrest rates on criminal investigations have plunged, while the total number of criminal investigations has soared. A good number of violent crimes, sexual crimes and aggravated assaults have not been investigated. This while clear evidence shows that most of the undocumented migrants Arpaio jails rarely committed other "real" crimes. Furthermore, his extreme actions have real economic consequences. He has driven Maricopa County into a financial crisis with his obsession with undocumented migrants, and with the number of lawsuits filed against him. It is estimated that the county spent more than $40 million defending Arpaio's office. Nonetheless, Arpaio's circus of brutality seems to ingratiate him with a large number of taxpayers. This may explain why he has been easily re-elected for five four-year terms and still remains extremely popular. By taking on the most vulnerable and defenseless group in the nation — undocumented migrants, many of them women and children — by humiliating them, terrorizing them, torturing them and constantly violating their legal, civil and human rights, and by not reducing real crime, Arpaio has proven to be a pernicious person who contradicts basic American values. His perversions need to be a part of the debate on torture.

Courtesy of Hector E. Sanchez Hector E. Sanchez is the Director of Policy and Research for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. Hector E. Sanchez Courtesy of Hector E. Sanchez Hector E. Sanchez is the Director of Policy and Research for the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

Napolitano on Sheriff Arpaio: ‘He was unwilling to accept there were standards that needed to be met.’

One of the more controversial steps the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently taken is the revision and standardization of its 287(g) immigration-enforcement agreements with state and local police as part of DHS’ efforts to prioritize the removal of dangerous undocumented immigrants. Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio made national headlines last month when he belligerently stated that DHS had unfairly singled him out and took away his authority to make a political example out of him. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano sat down with ThinkProgress today to explain what drove DHS’ decision to limit some of Arpaio’s authority amidst rampant allegations of racial profiling against the Sheriff’s Office: It was time to build some standards into 287(g) and to put some organization into this. … And he [Arpaio] was unwilling to accept that there were standards that needed to be met. He wanted to go off on his own. And so that’s where we had a parting of ways.

Watch it:

During an event at the Center for American Progress today, Napolitano openly opposed Arpaio’s blind immigration raids, stating that she doesn’t believe that they are the best way to ensure public safety. The event featured Napolitano’s first detailed discussion on comprehensive immigration reform and what DHS is doing to prepare for it. Napolitano announced that there’s a desperate need for immigration reform that consists of a “commitment to serious and effective enforcement, improved legal flows for families and workers, and a firm but fair way to deal with those who are already here.” Though significant improvements have been made, “the laws themselves need to be reformed,” she said. More coverage at the Wonk Room.

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Judge to hear arguments in Arpaio's lawsuit

Joe Arpaio, immigrant students meet over Arizona law

Judges file claims accusing Joe Arpaio, Andrew Thomas for abuse of power

Sheriff Joe Arpaio defends Arizona’s new immigration law

New immigration bill old hat for ‘Sheriff Joe’

He and his deputies have been asking about immigration status for years

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio won't run for governor

Joe Arpaio and Al Sharpton's immigration road show

Protests, grand jury challenge Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Audit: Arpaio spending violated county policy

Tribune File

Grand Jury Impaneled To Probe Arpaio, MCSO

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio Accused Of Abusing Power

Joe Arpaio's Deputies Admit Destroying Evidence in Racial Profiling Lawsuit

	Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio answers questions during a news conference to announce his latest crime suppression enforcement patrols in Phoenix. View related photos