Arizona sheriff sues Obama over immigration moves

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona sheriff who has often clashed with the federal government over the enforcement of immigration laws has filed a lawsuit to stop new policies announced by President Barack Obama.

The suit filed Thursday in federal court in Washington on behalf of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio contends Obama acted outside his constitutional authority by not going through Congress.

It asks the court to block the changes that include making an estimated 5 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally eligible for work permits and for protection from deportation.

Arpaio said he went to court on behalf of himself and all Americans.

"I am not seeking to myself enforce the immigration laws as this is the province of the federal government," he said in a statement. "Rather, I am seeking to have the president and the other defendants obey the U.S. Constitution."

The lawsuit said Obama was "hijacking" previous immigration regulation and law by changing the definition of key terms to "create a radically new and different regime of immigration law and regulation."

Arpaio's lawsuit was filed by Larry Klayman, a conservative activist and attorney who has filed hundreds of lawsuits against the federal government. He founded the government watchdog group Judicial Watch in 1994 and left the group in 2003.

Obama's administration previously stripped 100 of Arpaio's deputies of their powers to make federal immigration arrests and filed a pending lawsuit against the sheriff's office alleging racial profiling and other civil rights violations.

Arpaio, a frequent critic of the administration's deportation policies, has said the lawsuit against his office was a politically motivated attack by the administration aimed at courting Latino voters.

Arpaio's volunteer cold-case posse also has investigated the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate.

Obama laid out his executive actions during a prime-time television address Thursday.

His changes would mainly cover parents of U.S. citizens and of legal residents as long as the parents have been in the U.S. for five years or more.

Obama also changed enforcement priorities by emphasizing the deportation of new illegal arrivals and criminals.

Republicans in Congress have accused Obama of exceeding his authority by not going through Congress. In his televised speech, Obama said his hand was forced by congressional inaction to fix the broken immigration system.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


I am not seeking to myself enforce the immigration laws as this is the province of the federal government. Rather, I am seeking to have the president and the other defendants obey the U.S. Constitution.

–Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio


The lawsuit said Obama was "hijacking" previous immigration regulation and law by changing the definition of key terms to "create a radically new and different regime of immigration law and regulation."

Arpaio's lawsuit was filed by Larry Klayman, a conservative activist and attorney who has filed hundreds of lawsuits against the federal government. He founded the government watchdog group Judicial Watch in 1994 and left the group in 2003.

Obama's administration previously stripped 100 of Arpaio's deputies of their powers to make federal immigration arrests and filed a pending lawsuit against the sheriff's office alleging racial profiling and other civil rights violations.

Arpaio, a frequent critic of the administration's deportation policies, has said the lawsuit against his office was a politically motivated attack by the administration aimed at courting Latino voters.

Arpaio's volunteer cold-case posse also has investigated the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate.

Related:

Obama laid out his executive actions during a prime-time television address Thursday.

His changes would mainly cover parents of U.S. citizens and of legal residents as long as the parents have been in the U.S. for five years or more.

Obama also changed enforcement priorities by emphasizing the deportation of new illegal arrivals and criminals.

Congressional Republicans have accused Obama of exceeding his authority by not going through Congress. Obama said in his televised speech that his hand was forced by congressional inaction to fix the broken immigration system.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.Politics
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast