The rise, fall, and resurrection of “America’s toughest sheriff.”
From Vox’s Dara Lind:
President Donald Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday night — a controversial move to aid an early endorser who in many ways pioneered Trump’s brand of anti-immigrant politics.
Pardoning Arpaio — who was convicted of contempt of court in July for continuing to engage in aggressive immigration enforcement in defiance of a 2011 court order, before he is even sentenced — was an unusual move, to say the least. But it makes a tremendous amount of sense for Trump.
Not only is the president doing a favor for Arpaio, who helped validate Trump among the immigration hardliners who have since become a large share of his base; it sends a powerful message to sheriffs around the country who are worried that cooperating with federal immigration authorities could get them into trouble with the courts as well.
With the pardon, Trump mobilized immigrants-rights groups and made establishment Republicans nervous. It’s the kind of culture war milieu in which Trump thrives.
Arpaio was convicted of violating a judge’s order by doing something the Trump
administration’s trying to pressure sheriffs around the country to do now
“By pardoning Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Trump has again made clear he will use the powers of the presidency to defend racism and discrimination. The thousands of people terrorized and brutalized by Arpaio's illegal actions deserve justice. No one in America should live in fear,” -- Senator Bernie Sanders.
By Dara Lind
