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Sheriff Joe planning another crime sweep tonight



07:45 AM Mountain Standard Time on Thursday, April 23, 2009

Javier Soto and Catherine Holland / azfamily
April 23rd, 2009
Another controversial sweep

Maricopa County deputies and posse members will be out in force tonight for another crime suppression operation, but the exact location is being kept under wraps for the moment.
Expected to start at 5 p.m.
Details still under wraps

MARICOPA COUNTY -- Maricopa County deputies and posse members will be out in force tonight for another crime suppression operation, but the exact time and location are being kept under wraps.

Similar crime sweeps have stirred up controversy of the past year, with some calling the operations nothing more than racial profiling. The sweeps, which are conducted under the 287(g) program, which allows local law-enforcement agencies to arrest illegal immigrants, are also the center of a hearing earlier this month in the U.S. House of Representative, a hearing to which Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he was not invited.

Arpaio said at the time that he was not concerned about not testifying at the hearing.

“I'm not concerned. I'm going to continue to enforce the illegal immigration laws," he said. "I'll never be forced out. They can put that in their pipe.â€