Arpaio To Launch Immigration Sweep

POSTED: 6:51 am MST March 17, 2010

PHOENIX -- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio plans to launch a crime and immigration sweep this week, but declined to say specifically when or where it will begin.

It would mark his 14th sweep since early 2008.

During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city -- in some cases heavily Latino areas -- to seek out traffic violators and arrest other violators.

Critics say Arpaio's deputies have racially profiled Hispanics, but the sheriff says deputies approach people only when they have probable cause to believe people had committed crimes.

The federal government has taken away Arpaio's power to make federal immigration arrests under the 287(g) program.

Arpaio now claims an inherent power to enforce federal immigration law and is training 881 deputies to crack down on illegal immigration

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