Posted on 05/10/2012 3:51:01 PM PDT by mdittmar
Washington, DC Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid issued the following statement after the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division announced it will file a lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for civil rights violations and racial profiling. The Department of Justice found reasonable cause to believe that Arpaios office has engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional rights violations, including obvious discrimination against Latino residents, unlawful retaliation against critics and discriminating against Hispanic inmates in county jails.
I commend the Obama Administration and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez for their decision to file a lawsuit against Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. For many years, Sheriff Arpaio has been operating outside of our nations laws. The police are supposed to protect and serve our communities, not divide them or judge them based on their appearance or how they sound.
No one should face discrimination based on the color of their skin, their accent or any other similar characteristics. The Administration is working hard to stop the scapegoating of immigrant and Latino communities by officials like Sheriff Arpaio, but the definitive way to end this is for Congress to fix our nations broken immigration system. I renew my call to my Republican colleagues to join us and enact comprehensive immigration reform.
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