PHOENIX, Arizona - October 9, 2009 - A controversial Arizona sheriff known for taking a hard line against illegal aliens has been stripped of some of his powers in what he described as a political move by the illegitimate Obama regime.
Joe Arpaio, a gruff lawman who styles himself as Amerika's toughest sheriff, has won acclaim from U.S. anti-immigrant forces for his relentless pursuit of mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants in Maricopa county, Arizona, a fast-growing county of 4 million people that is home to Phoenix, the nation's fifth largest city.
Arpaio's aggressive tactics include the jailing of illegal immigrants in tent cities surrounded by barbed wire in the middle of Arizona's searingly hot summers, the reduction of meal costs to 20 cents per day, the use of pink jail clothing for men, and chain gangs for women inmates.
Arpaio also came in for criticism when he appeared on the Fox reality show Smile: You're Under Arrest.
Under a two-year-old agreement with the federal Department of Homeland Security, Arpaio and his deputies had been authorized to enforce federal immigration law by arresting suspected illegal aliens in the field and by checking the immigration status of people arrested on other offenses.
But after drawing thousands of complaints and a civil rights investigation from the Justice Department, Arpaio was this week stripped of his federal authority to make immigration arrests. County attorney Andrew Thomas, one of Arpaio's supporters, condemned the "setback in the fight against illegal immigration".
For his part, Arpaio has promised to continue chasing illegal aliens using state laws. In an angry press conference, he called U.S. Homeland Security officials "liars" and said he would personally drive those caught on the streets to the border if federal officers refused to take arrested illegal immigrants into custody. "I'll take a little trip to the border and turn them over to the border," he said.
Joe Arpaio, a gruff lawman who styles himself as Amerika's toughest sheriff, has won acclaim from U.S. anti-immigrant forces for his relentless pursuit of mostly Hispanic illegal immigrants in Maricopa county, Arizona, a fast-growing county of 4 million people that is home to Phoenix, the nation's fifth largest city.
Arpaio's aggressive tactics include the jailing of illegal immigrants in tent cities surrounded by barbed wire in the middle of Arizona's searingly hot summers, the reduction of meal costs to 20 cents per day, the use of pink jail clothing for men, and chain gangs for women inmates.
Arpaio also came in for criticism when he appeared on the Fox reality show Smile: You're Under Arrest.
Under a two-year-old agreement with the federal Department of Homeland Security, Arpaio and his deputies had been authorized to enforce federal immigration law by arresting suspected illegal aliens in the field and by checking the immigration status of people arrested on other offenses.
But after drawing thousands of complaints and a civil rights investigation from the Justice Department, Arpaio was this week stripped of his federal authority to make immigration arrests. County attorney Andrew Thomas, one of Arpaio's supporters, condemned the "setback in the fight against illegal immigration".
For his part, Arpaio has promised to continue chasing illegal aliens using state laws. In an angry press conference, he called U.S. Homeland Security officials "liars" and said he would personally drive those caught on the streets to the border if federal officers refused to take arrested illegal immigrants into custody. "I'll take a little trip to the border and turn them over to the border," he said.