New ICE Regs Rein in Sheriff Joe

The Maricopa County (Phoenix) Sheriff's Office was ordered by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release nine undocumented taken into custody in one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's high-profile "crime sweeps." Sheriff Joe is perfectly free to conduct his sweeps under Arizona law, but ICE is under no obligation to accept everyone he rounds up. The nine released had no other criminal charges outstanding against them, other than being in the country illegally. Over the two years the sheriff's office has cooperated with ICE, it had handed over 110 undocumented under similar circumstances (119 with attached criminal charges). Now Sheriff Joe is considering not renewing his agreement with ICE which is up for renewal in a few months. (See Arizona Republic article.)