Complaints loom over contract
Panel: Stop Arpaio from immigration enforcement
by Daniel González - Dec. 27, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

A state civil-rights panel is recommending that, because of racial-profiling complaints, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors end a contract with the federal government that allows the county Sheriff's Office to enforce immigrations laws.

The Arizona Civil Rights Advisory Board also is asking federal officials in Washington, D.C., to investigate the Sheriff's Office for possible civil-rights violations during the enforcement of immigration laws. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon made a similar request earlier this year.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio maintains that his office's enforcement of immigration laws is both legal and effective. He dismissed the panel's recommendations as only the latest attempt by critics to prevent him from enforcing the laws.
"They are trying to intimidate me from doing my job. I think I am doing a fantastic job," Arpaio said, citing the thousands of illegal immigrants his office has turned over to federal immigration officials.

Arpaio called the timing of the letters "suspicious" in light of President-elect Barack Obama's selection of Gov. Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement. The civil-rights panel is made up of volunteers appointed by the governor.

This week, the seven-member panel sent letters to the Board of Supervisors and top Homeland Security officials, saying that people at public forums over the past year had expressed "serious concerns as to the policies and practices" of Arpaio's immigration enforcement. The panel - chaired by Jason Martinez, an Estrella Mountain Community College counselor - hosted the forums in Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa.

The panel also cited several lawsuits accusing the Sheriff's Office of civil-rights violations during a series of immigration sweeps, as well as a December report by the conservative Goldwater Institute that criticizes Arpaio's enforcement of immigration laws. The report called his approach ineffective and said it diverted resources away from basic law enforcement, hurting public safety.

"Is our continued participation in this (contract) in the best interest of our county?" the panel asked in a letter addressed to Andrew W. Kunasek, chairman of the Board of Supervisors. "We believe the answer is no."

In February 2007, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Sheriff's Office that allowed 160 deputies and jail officials to receive training to enforce federal immigration laws. Under the agreement, Sheriff's deputies have arrested more than 1,455 suspected illegal immigrants, while jail officials have placed immigration holds on more than 19,808 people booked into jail on crimes.

Kunasek could not be reached for comment.

Jim Bloom, Kunasek's chief of staff, said the board looks "forward to the results of the requested investigation by federal authorities."

He said the panel's request asking the board to end the contract would be forwarded to the county manager for review.

The panel, part of the civil-rights division of the state Attorney General's Office, defends against discrimination but has no enforcement powers.

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