Will Sheriff Joe Arpaio Go To Jail For Aggressive Immigration Enforcement?

Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt of court Monday for ignoring court orders to stop his aggressive enforcement of immigration laws. Arpaio, 85, styled himself as “America’s toughest sheriff” but now faces up to six months in jail.

Arpaio is a controversial figure for a variety of actions he took as sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona. Arizona federal Judge Murray Snow ruled in 2011 that Arpaio’s harsh immigration enforcement stances and tactics constituted racial profiling. Arpaio was ordered to stop, and he didn’t. A Department of Justice investigation called his actions “the worst pattern of racial profiling by a law enforcement agency in U.S. history,” according to a 2011 piece by the Phoenix New Times.

READ: Jeff Sessions Could Be Testifying In Joe Arpaio’s Immigration Case, Too

Arpaio was charged with civil contempt of court, which eventually became criminal contempt of court charges. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton who presided over the case wrote that Arpaio “willfully violated an order of the court,” because he failed "to ensure his subordinates' compliance and by directing them to continue to detain persons for whom no criminal charges could be filed.”

It was found that Arpaio’s office would regularly detain people on the suspicion that they were in the U.S. illegally which led to the detention of innocent Latino citizens and legal residents.

Arpaio’s sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5, 2017.

“This verdict is a vindication for the many victims of Joe Arpaio’s immigration policies, which were unconstitutional to begin with, and were doubly illegal when Arpaio flouted the court’s orders. Joe Arpaio learned his lesson the hard way — no one, not even America’s so-called toughest sheriff, is above the law,” said American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Cecillia Wang.

The sheriff’s case comes at a cross road for immigration enforcement in the United States.

Arpaio lost his re-election bid for sheriff on November 8 — the same day President Donald Trump was elected into office. The Trump administration, especially Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has taken an immigration stance much more closely aligned with Arpaio’s, and Trump has threatened to take federal funding away from cities that don’t strictly enforce immigration laws. Arpaio was considered an ally during Trump’s campaign.

Arpaio was first elected to become sheriff in 1992 and served six terms. The sheriff made immigration enforcement one of his top priorities in the early 2000s. He instructed his police force to conduct raids to search for immigrants without legal status. Arpaio also forced inmates in his county jails to wear pink underwear so that the garments wouldn’t be stolen when they left jail.

READ: US Immigration Illegally Detaining And Deporting Its Citizens For Years Despite Documents Proving Nationality

Additionally, Arpaio took heat for the creation of “tent city,” an extension of a local jail facility where inmates live outside in tents in the sweltering Arizona heat. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have called the practice inhumane. Newly-elected Sheriff Paul Penzone has vowed to shut it down.

Arpaio was also an outspoken critic of former President Barack Obama and accused him of faking his birth certificate.