[migrawatch-public] Arpaio Under Investigation

Ariz. sheriff's department target of federal probe
By EDUARDO MONTES Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/10/2009 06:28:53 PM PDT

PHOENIX—Federal authorities told a high-profile Arizona sheriff Tuesday
that they will investigate his department over allegations of
discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter to Maricopa County Sheriff
Joe Arpaio that investigators will focus on alleged patterns of police
discrimination based on national origin.

The letter offers no specific allegations. But Arpaio said he believes the
investigation was spurred by his department's often controversial efforts
to combat illegal immigration in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix.

Arpaio's department is the largest participant in a federal program that
allows local police departments to enforce federal immigration laws.

The department has aggressively pursued investigations under Arizona's
employer sanctions law and a state anti-smuggling law.

The smuggling law was designed to help local police fight smugglers, but
an interpretation by Maricopa County's top prosecutor opened the door for
Arpaio's deputies to arrest people who pay smugglers and accuse them of
being co-conspirators.

Arpaio has also launched crime sweeps in areas around Phoenix with high
concentrations of Hispanics. Most recently, Arpaio began to separate
illegal immigrants from other inmates in Tent City, a section of the
county jail where all inmates are housed in tents.

Those tactics have attracted national attention and have led some critics,
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including immigration activists, to accuse Arpaio's department of racial
profiling.

The sheriff said he will cooperate with the Justice Department. "If they
want to come down, let them come," he said. "We'll open our books. We have
nothing to hide."

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