Justice Department Threatens to Sue Maricopa County Sheriff

The new immigration law enacted in Arizona, SB 1070, gives police officers much more authority to detain illegal immigrants. This authority will almost certainly increase the racial profiling and discrimination against many groups, most notably the Latino population.

Recently, Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer (R) were sued by the Justice Department over the state's new immigration law. Soon after, Justice Department officials issued a warning to controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio that requires him to respond to their investigation into whether he discriminates against Hispanics. If he doesn’t respond, he will be sued.

The Civil Rights Division has been investigating whether Arpaio’s jail has discriminated against Hispanic inmates and whether his department has engaged in “discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures” all this according to a letter the division sent Arpaio.

A federal grand jury in Phoenix is also targeting the self proclaimed “America’s Toughest Sheriff.” They are examining whether he has used his influence to intimidate and investigate political opponents and whether his office misappropriated government funds.

More information on SB 1070 can be found here and here.

Source: Washington Post