By Donna Carol Voss
Thursday, August 31, 2017
In 2013, Sheriff Joe Arpaio was enjoined from continuing
his notorious “immigration sweeps” in Maricopa County, Arizona. At the time,
his deputies were known to target predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods for
traffic stops, and Arpaio was convicted of racial profiling. U.S. District
Judge G. Murray Snow permanently enjoined Arpaio and his deputies from
“detaining, holding or arresting Latino occupants of vehicles in Maricopa
County based on a reasonable belief, without more, that such persons are in the
country without authorization.”
Nonetheless, Arpaio allowed his deputies to continue the
sweeps. He also continued holding illegal aliens without a criminal warrant, in
violation of Snow’s injunction against “detaining Latino occupants of vehicles
stopped for traffic violations for a period longer than reasonably necessary to
resolve the traffic violation in the absence of reasonable suspicion that any
of them have committed or are committing a violation of federal or state
criminal law.”
Maricopa County’s practice was to turn aliens with
criminal warrants over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but ICE
wouldn’t take the ones without warrants, so Arpaio had them driven to Border
Patrol. The 75-minute car ride from Maricopa County to the border was found to
be unlawful detainment because if an individual isn’t charged with a crime, the
Fourth Amendment says he’s free to go.
Because Arpaio failed to heed Snow’s injunction, U.S.
District Judge Susan R. Bolton convicted him of criminal contempt last month
and set the sentencing hearing for October 5. The sentencing, however, will
never take place because late Friday afternoon, President Trump pardoned
Arpaio.
Cue Sudden Love
for Rule of Law Among Its Breakers
When Arpaio was pardoned despite willful racial profiling
and unlawful holds, the Left went nuts. They must have all texted each other
simultaneously and said, “This is so awesome. We’ve got him on the rule of law.
Loser!”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted, “pardon of
fellow birther Arpaio makes mockery of rule of law…” Senate Minority Leader
Chuck Schumer tweeted, “Joe Arpaio ignored the courts and the rule of law…”
Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, wrote on her Facebook page, and not in a good way, that “Trump allies
are above the law…”
Meanwhile, sanctuary city sheriffs all over the country
willfully violate the federal statute against prohibiting or restricting
communication with ICE, and the Left considers them heroes. If constitutional
law is the standard, how do sanctuary city sheriffs get away with not enforcing
federal laws passed by Congress? Isn’t the power of Congress to enact laws as
much a part of the Constitution as the Fourth Amendment is?
The kneejerk rationalization from sanctuary cities is
that state and local law enforcement are not obligated to enforce federal
immigration law. But Congress addressed that apparent dilemma when it passed 8
U.S.C. 1373.
Notwithstanding any other provision
of Federal, State, or local law, a Federal, State, or local government entity
or official may not prohibit, or in any
way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or
receiving from, the Immigration and Naturalization Service information
regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any
individual. [emphasis added]
Congress didn’t mandate that states enforce federal
immigration law. In the interest of protecting the American people, Congress
mandated that one government entity (local law enforcement) not prohibit or
restrict communication regarding immigration status with another government
entity (ICE).
Two Kinds of
Immigration Enforcement Disdain
While Arpaio was enforcing laws a court told him he had
no business enforcing, sanctuary jurisdictions were refusing to enforce laws
Congress told them they had to enforce. For example, the New Orleans Police
Department mandated that “Members shall not disclose information regarding the
citizenship or immigration status of any person unless required to do so by
state or federal law.”
But as the inspector general noted in a May 31, 2016 memo
to the Department of Justice, 1373 does not require that jurisdictions disclose information, only that they not
prohibit or restrict sharing of immigration status information with ICE.
“[U]nless the understanding of NOPD’s employees is that they are not prohibited
or restricted from sharing immigration status information with ICE, the policy
would be inconsistent with Section 1373.”
San Francisco likewise mandated that “No department,
agency, commission, officer or employee of the City and County of San Francisco
shall use any City funds or resources to assist in the enforcement of federal
immigration law or to gather or disseminate information regarding the immigration
status of individuals in the City and County of San Francisco unless such
assistance is required by federal or State statute, regulation or court
decision.”
The IG likewise questioned their compliance with 1373 in
that “unless the understanding of San Francisco employees is that they are
permitted to share immigration status information with ICE, the policy would be
inconsistent with Section 1373.” Where is the concern over constitutional
adherence from sanctuary city sheriffs? Why is it that only certain laws (read:
“favored by the Left”) are exempt from enforcement?
‘No One Is Above
the Law’
Sen. John McCain issued a statement criticizing the
pardon, and—you guessed it—emphasizing the rule of law: “No one is above the
law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law
officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly
enforcing the laws they swore to uphold…The President has the authority to make
this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of
rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”
The first sentence of McCain’s statement should be read
aloud to all law officers and elected officials in the country: “No one is
above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn
law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to
fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold.”
There’s no asterisk anywhere that says, “Unless we’re
talking about sanctuary cities.” It seems to me that either we’re all governed
by the Constitution—or none of us are.
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