Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizonaâs Maricopa County has filed a lawsuit challenging President Obamaâs unilateral action on immigration.
The outspoken lawman calls the presidentâs move âunconstitutionalâ and says it will âhave a serious detrimental impact on my carrying out the duties and responsibilities.â
Arpaio said the presidentâs action will significantly strain his departmentâs resources, both in manpower and financially, because it will release âcriminal aliens back onto streets of Maricopa County, Ariz., and the rest of the nation.â
âI am not seeking to myself enforce the immigration laws as this is the province of the federal government,â he said. âRather, I am seeking to have the president and the other defendants obey the U.S. Constitution, which prevents this executive order from having been issued in the first place.â
The president on Thursday night announced an executive action to shield more than 4 million illegal immigrants from deportation, marking the most sweeping changes to the nation’s fractured immigration laws in almost three decades.
The lawsuit, filed late Thursday, names Obama, Homeland Security Security Jeh Johnson, Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez as defendants.
Larry Klayman, who founded the conservative activist groups Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, is representing Arpaio in the lawsuit.
Arpaio, who six times has been elected sheriff of the Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, long has battled the Obama administration. The Justice Department earlier this year sued the controversial sheriff over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos.
