After Trump’s pardon, Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, will not be convicted. Sheriff Joe Arpaio was charged with violating court orders and detaining undocumented immigrants on suspicion of being in the United States illegally. Based solely on racial profiling, among other accusations Arpaio caused terror in the streets of Arizona with his practices. But according to President Donald Trump, he kept Arizona safe.
I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017
Pedro J. Torres-Dizas, president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, pointed out that the President’s decision “effectively condones Sheriff Arpaio’s conduct, undermines the court’s authority to redress violations of constitutional rights, and weakens the public’s faith in our legal and judicial system.” Trump did not follow normal judiciary procedure when he granted the full unconditional pardon.
When a person requests a pardon, they usually show a sense of remorse, regretting their actions. This isn’t the case for Arpaio, who stands by his actions and still denies he did anything wrong. According to his lawyer, he didn’t even request the pardon that was granted to him by the President.
It’s important to point put that Arpaio was already facing charges and had a date in court to be sentenced on October 5, facing up to six months in jail. When asked about the reason for the pardon, Trump pointed out the sheriff’s 85 years of age and that he had served his country for 50 of those years.
Arpaio’s legal problems began in 2011, when a federal judge ordered him and his deputies to stop detaining people on the street or pulling them over in traffic stops, simply because of a suspicion that they might be here illegally.
After he received the pardon, Arpaio told reporters he was “humbled and incredibly grateful for this very good news.” But he also pointed out that he nonetheless faces “tens of thousands in legal bills from my fight to clear my name.”
Although some have said that by accepting the pardon he admits his guilt, he was granted a full unconditional pardon, which invalidates any further attempts to use his acceptance as evidence on any further investigation.
Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director of the ACLU, pointed out that Maricopa county has not changed their ways, and police force is “still detaining Latinos and Latin Americans for much longer than other drivers and passengers. These are problems of institution-wide bias in traffic stops, and that’s going to take time to uproot.”
Joe Arpaio’s pardon was so premature that he didn’t even yet qualify to ask for one, if the President had let the legal process take it’s course, it’s possible that it would’t even be necessary. This is just one of the many actions President Trump has taken to undermine the impact of the Latino community in the United States, like considering pulling the plug on Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals.