The Latino Policy Forum condemns President Donald Trump’s unusual pardoning of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose history of racial profiling, bigotry and defiance of federal laws led to his conviction of criminal contempt by a federal court judge last month.
According to the Washington Post, federal officials under President George W. Bush started investigating the Arpaio’s office in 2008 for potential civil rights violations. The investigation continued under President Obama and, in 2011, the Justice Department concluded Arpaio had engaged in systemic racial profiling of Latinos. The conclusion led to the Department of Homeland Security removing immigration-enforcement authority from Arpaio’s agency.
Last July, Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court, stemming from a 2007 racial-profiling case in which... Continue Reading