A US federal judge ruled on Friday that the office of the US’ self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.
The ruling marks a thorough repudiation of the immigration patrols that have made Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio a national political figure. It backs up allegations that critics have made for years that Arpaio’s officers violate the constitutional rights of Latinos by relying on race in their immigration enforcement.
Known for jailing inmates in tents and making prisoners wear pink underwear, Arpaio started doing immigration enforcement in 2006 as Arizona voters grew frustrated with the state’s role as the nation’s busiest illegal entryway.
US District Judge Murray Snow also ruled Arpaio’s deputies unreasonably prolonged the detentions of people who were pulled over.
The ruling represents a victory for those who pushed the lawsuit.
They were not seeking monetary damages but rather a declaration that Arpaio’s office engages in racial profiling and an order that would require it to make policy changes.
“For too long the sheriff has been victimizing the people he’s meant to serve with his discriminatory policy,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Right Project.
The sheriff, who has repeatedly denied the allegations, will not face jail time or fines as a result of the ruling.
Arpaio, who turns 81 next month, was elected in November last year to his sixth consecutive term as sheriff in Arizona’s most populous county.
A small group of Latinos alleged in their lawsuit that Arpaio’s deputies pulled over some vehicles only to make immigration status checks. The group asked Snow to issue injunctions barring the sheriff’s office from discriminatory policing and the judge ruled that more remedies could be ordered in the future.
The group also accused the sheriff of ordering some immigration patrols not based on reports of crime but rather on letters and e-mails from Arizonans who complained about people with dark skin congregating in an area or speaking Spanish. The group’s attorneys said that Arpaio sent thank-you notes to some people who wrote the complaints.
The sheriff said his deputies only stop people when they think a crime has been committed and that he was not the person who picked the location of the patrols. His lawyers also said there was nothing wrong with the thank-you notes.
The ruling used Arpaio’s own words in interviews, news conferences and press releases against him as he trumpeted his efforts in cracking down on immigrants.
“Ours is an operation, whether it’s the state law or the federal, to go after illegals, not the crime first, that they happen to be illegals,” the ruling quoted Arpaio as saying. “My program, my philosophy is a pure program. You go after illegals. I’m not afraid to say that. And you go after them and you lock them up.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number