|
| |
| |
 |
|
House Judiciary Committee
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. |
|
|
Sheriff Arpaio Faces Congressional
Hearing
PHOENIX (By
Daniel Gonzαlez and Dan Nowicki,
Arizona Republic) March 12, 2009
Already under investigation by the
Justice Department, Maricopa County
Sheriff Joe Arpaio now also faces
House congressional hearing
launching civil-rights look
into complaints Arpaio deputies are
discriminating against Hispanics
while enforcing immigration laws.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee,
said next month's hearing will be
held jointly with the chairmen of
the immigration, crime and
Constitution subcommittees.
"We're not trying to persecute or
take advantage of anybody," Conyers
said Wednesday at a news conference.
"Law-enforcement officers have a
very important and valuable
function. The problem is they can't
interpret the law their own way to
harass or use racial strategies to
determine who they arrest."
A spokesman for the Judiciary
Committee said Arpaio will be
invited to testify. A date has not
been set.
Congressional committees often hold
hearings to direct a public
spotlight on an issue that their
chairmen deem important.
The Judiciary Committee has the
power to issue subpoenas to compel
testimony or the release of
documents. The panels compile a
record of the proceedings and
sometimes issue reports of their
findings.
Arpaio said he has no intention of
flying to Washington to testify.
Arpaio said he questions the
motivation of Conyers, who last
month joined three other
judiciary-panel members in asking
for a federal investigation of
Arpaio's immigration sweeps.
The Department of Justice informed
Arpaio on Tuesday that it is looking
into whether the Sheriff's Office
discriminates.
"Why don't they wait for the federal
investigation? Why do they want
hearings now?" Arpaio asked.
"Because it's a political situation.
They want to keep putting the
pressure on me, hoping that I go
away. . . . And that is not going to
happen."
Arpaio's controversial 3-year-old
immigration crackdown has included
stops of vehicles on rural highways
to look for smugglers, crime sweeps
in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods and
worksite raids that have netted the
arrests of about 1,500 illegal
immigrants.
Arpaio said he would welcome Conyers
and the other Washington lawmakers
to inspect his operation.
"I want them to come here. I'll even
pay their airline ticket," Arpaio
said. "I want him to come here.
"I will take him to the tents. I
will take him on these
crime-suppression operations. I will
fill him in on the truth. And then
when he has his hearings, he's going
to have a lot of good background to
talk about if he wants to do it
truthfully."
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.,
chairman of the Judiciary
Committee's Constitution
subcommittee, said Arpaio's
"malicious and vigilante practices
are not immigration enforcement."
On the contrary," he said, "this is
abuse of police power and a
violation of federal law."
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
