News

Aug 7, 2009

Last week, Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio released tape-recorded conversations indicating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials had instructed his department to release thirteen illegal aliens apprehended during a law enforcement operation. Arpaio's department participates in 287(g) — a federal program that trains state and local law enforcement agencies in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The taped conversations directly contradict a previous statement from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson claiming that "the determination to release these [illegal aliens] lies solely within the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office."

The situation between ICE and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) stemmed from a crime suppression operation conducted on Thursday, July 23 and Friday, July 24. According to Arpaio, the MCSO had identified thirteen illegal aliens on civil violations as a result of the operation. In light of a recent announcement by DHS that ICE is changing the parameters surrounding the 287(g) program, MCSO deputies consulted ICE officials about whether they still had permission — as they had previously — to take illegal aliens who had committed civil (and not criminal) violations into custody. The conflict initially arose from this conversation: DHS claimed that the decision to release the illegal aliens had come from Arpaio's office, while the MCSO stated that they had been advised by ICE officials to release the aliens.

Following DHS' pronouncement that the decision to release the illegal aliens laid "solely within the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office," Sheriff Arpaio announced that his deputies had taped their conversations with ICE officials. According to the East Valley Tribune, a copy of the recording indicates that an ICE official had in fact advised the "MCSO not to take into custody those [illegal aliens] who don't have a criminal history." Arpaio noted that in previous years ICE would have deported the aliens but was refusing to now because of the recent changes to 287(g). However, Arpaio also pointed out that DHS had granted 287(g) participants 90 days to comply with the new directives. The Tribune noted that Arpaio felt that DHS' decision to accelerate the implementation of the 287(g) changes had been made for "political reasons."

In spite of the release of the tape-recorded evidence proving otherwise, DHS continues to deny that ICE officials instructed the MCSO to release the illegal aliens. DHS spokesperson Matthew Chandler responded to the release of the tape-recording: "The Sheriff's Office was given specific instructions on how to institute immigration proceedings against any individuals suspected of being in this country illegally, however they declined to do so. These actions are disappointing and detract from immigration law enforcement efforts not only in Arizona, but throughout the rest of the country as well."