DHS Suspends Secure Communities For Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Because of a Department of Justice report finding that the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Joe Arpaio “engages in racial profiling of Latinos” and worse, the Department of Homeland Security has suspended the county’s access to the Secure Communities immigration program. TPM reported:

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement that the decision was based on the Justice Department’s findings of discriminatory policing practices by MCSO and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

“Discrimination undermines law enforcement and erodes the public trust. DHS will not be a party to such practices,” Napolitano said. “Accordingly, and effective immediately, DHS is terminating MCSO’s 287(g) jail model agreement and is restricting the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office access to the Secure Communities program.”

The 287(g) jail model agreement is the program which allows officers to screen individuals they arrest for immigration status and put detainers on them once they have been booked into jail.