Arapio: 13 arrested in crime, immigration sweep

The Associated Press
Friday, July 30, 2010 11:10 am

PHOENIX - The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says 13 people were arrested in a crime and immigration sweep conducted the same day Arizona's new immigration law took effect.

The arrests were for outstanding warrants and other crimes. It's unclear whether any of those arrested were illegal immigrants.

About 180 deputies and trained sheriff's volunteers fanned out across metropolitan Phoenix on Thursday targeting traffic violators who may also be illegal immigrants.

It was the 17th such sweep conducted by the office. All the sweeps have netted about 1,000 total arrests, and the sheriff's office says about 60 percent of those were illegal immigrants.

Arizona's new immigration law went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday; a judge put the most controversial elements of it on hold, but allowed other portions to take effect.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-an ... 03286.html