U.S. District Judge Murray Snow has found that Sheriff Joe Arpaio racially profiled people in its immigration patrols; systematically singling out Latinos. The judge set a hearing for June 14 to determine how to implement the rulings, which includes certain prohibitions against Arpaio’s office.
Arpaio is not facing punishment due to the finding. The plaintiffs in the case sought only a ruling that Arpaio’s office engages in racial profiling and prevent future profiling and discriminatory acts.
The judge found that “Plaintiffs are entitled to injunctive relief necessary to remedy the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations caused by MCSO’s past and continuing operations. The MCSO is thus permanently enjoined from:
1. Detaining, holding or arresting Latino occupants of vehicles in Maricopa County based on a reasonable belief, without more, that such persons are in the country without authorization.
2. Following or enforcing its LEAR policy against any Latino occupant of a vehicle in Maricopa County.
3. Using race or Latino ancestry as a factor in determining to stop any vehicle in Maricopa County with a Latino occupant.
4. Using race or Latino ancestry as a factor in making law enforcement decisions with respect to whether any Latino occupant of a vehicle in Maricopa County may be in the country without authorization.
5. Detaining Latino occupants of vehicles stopped for traffic violations for a period longer than reasonably necessary to resolve the traffic violation in the absence of reasonable suspicion that any of them have committed or are committing a violation of federal or state criminal law.
6. Detaining, holding or arresting Latino occupants of a vehicle in Maricopa County for violations of the Arizona Human Smuggling Act without a reasonable basis for believing that, under all the circumstances, the necessary elements of the crime are present.
7. Detaining, arresting or holding persons based on a reasonable suspicion that they are conspiring with their employer to violate the Arizona Employer Sanctions Act.
Some long time residents of Guadelupe have said that while the Sheriffs deputies are normally helpful, the sweeps crossed the line. Guadalupe is patrolled by the MCSO due to the fact that the corruption in the small town as tapped the treasury so much over time it is unable to afford its own police force.
At trial, the judge was told of the sweeps that were conducted that were not based on reports of crime but in response complaints about people with dark skin congregating in an area or speaking Spanish.
According to the Arizona Republic, “Immigrants who were in the country illegally accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted by his office since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio’s office.”
The judge heard testimony over 7 days.
“The MCSO continues to follow its LEAR policy, which requires MCSO deputies to detain persons believed to be in the country without authorization but whom they cannot arrest on state charges. Such persons are either delivered directly to ICE by the MCSO or detained until the MCSO receives a response from ICE as to how to deal with them,: judge Snow wrote. “Until December 2011, the MCSO operated under the erroneous assumption that being an unauthorized alien in this country established a criminal violation of federal immigration law which the MCSO was entitled to enforce without 287(g) authorization. However, in the absence of additional facts, being within the country without authorization is not, in and of itself, a federal criminal offense.”
Judge Snow found that the “MCSO’s LEAR policy that requires a deputy (1) to detain persons she or he believes only to be in the country without authorization, (2) to contact MCSO supervisors, and then (3) to await contact with ICE pending a determination how to proceed, results in an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.”