Politics

Sheriff Arpaio: Illegal immigrants ‘will still be arrested,’ despite Obama’s policy shift

Stephanie Wang Contributor
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Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a vocal critic of the Obama administration, says he will not follow the Obama administration’s new policy that will allow as many as 800,000 illegal immigrants to remain in the United States legally.

Arpaio told ABC 15 the move “seems to be politically motivated.”

“I would rather see the president let the Congress decide what to do with this issue and other illegal immigration problems,” he said.

Arpaio said he will continue to uphold state immigration laws, which have been criticized for their severity, prompting the Justice Department to sue the state of Arizona.

Unsurprisingly, Arpaio doesn’t agree with the policy. While he has compassion for children in this country illegal, “this is up to 30 years old, they’re not kids,” he said, referring to the fact that the new policy will allow any illegal immigrant up to the age of 30 to remain in the country, providing they arrived before the age of 16. (RELATED: Rep. Steve King to sue Obama administration over new immigration policy)

“I think people from Mexico are now going to feel, ‘Hey come on in and we’ll get by with it.’ But it won’t happen in this county. They will still be arrested,” Arpaio said.

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