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Arpaio defies feds, continues W. Valley sweep
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Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio
Tribune File
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continued his office’s immigration sweep Saturday, despite having his powers stripped by a federal agency last week.
Sharpton: Arpaio a blight on Ariz.'s civil rights
Arpaio said in a news release Saturday that 34 suspects were arrested in the crime sweep’s first eight hours Friday in Surprise and Peoria. Early Saturday, the second day of the sweep, nine people at a Peoria carwash were arrested.
Maricopa County sheriff’s spokesman Aaron Douglas said seven people at the carwash were arrested on immigration charges and two on identification theft charges.
The arrests came after deputies served a search warrant at the On Your Way Car Wash and Quick Lube early Saturday, Douglas said.
The weekend sweep was the 12th operation of its kind, Arpaio said. The sheriff’s sweeps in some heavily Latino areas of the Valley have drawn criticism that Arpaio’s deputies racially profile people.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stripped Arpaio of his power Thursday to let 100 deputies make federal immigration arrests.
A half-day later, Arpaio launched the crime and immigration sweep in the West Valley.
Arpaio has said the federal agency’s action changes nothing, and he can still arrest illegal immigrants under a state smuggling law and a federal law that gives all local police agencies more limited power to detain suspected illegal immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Arpaio’s office over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.
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