FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 20, 2009

CONTACT: Alessandra Soler Meetze at 602-418-5499 (cell) and/or 602-650-1854 (office)

PHOENIX, AZ – Saying Arizona taxpayers are paying a dear price for the lack of accountability and transparency at local county jails, the ACLU of Arizona today criticized Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for denying members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) access to jail facilities.

“Arpaio brags about not having anything to hide, yet he keeps a shroud of secrecy over his own jails,” said ACLU of Arizona Executive Director Alessandra Soler Meetze. “By denying access to independent experts, he’s raising even more questions about whether he’s maintaining safe and humane conditions at the jails or whether he’s becoming an even greater liability for taxpayers by ignoring the Constitution.”

According to Mark Fleming, staff attorney for the commission’s Rapporteurship on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families, commission members were denied access because of four pending federal lawsuits involving one or more organizations that have previously testified before the commission.

Arpaio’s decision to deny access to commission members comes on the heels of his controversial decision earlier this month to refuse to cooperate with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation over whether his office is engaging in racial profiling.  Arpaio went as far as stating publicly: “We’re going to fight this to the bitter end.”

“The visit of the IACHR was a critical opportunity to shed light on conditions at MCSO jails,” added Meetze. “There’s no doubt that Arpaio’s decision to use law enforcement resources to enforce civil immigration laws has contributed to serious overcrowding and even greater problems related to the health and safety of prisoners. As recently found by the federal court, thousands of detainees are still being denied adequate services in basic areas, including medical and mental health care.”

The commission’s visit to Arizona this week is part of a year-long fact finding mission to investigate U.S. immigration detention conditions and due process rights.  The commission will publish a report at the end of 2009 on its findings and work with the United States government to implement recommendations.

The tour of MCSO jail facilities was considered a major part of the commission’s visit because approximately 12% of county inmates have ICE “holds,” with a significant portion of these facing criminal charges that directly impact their immigration status. Recent news articles have shown that the 28% increase in the numbers of Latinos detained in Maricopa County jail facilities can be attributed to changes in immigration enforcement , including the Sheriff’s race-based “crime suppression” sweeps, arrests of immigrants who cross the border with coyotes for conspiring to smuggling themselves, and worksite raids targeted at businesses that employ Latino workers.

Commission members will meet with former detainees and speak with local advocates to gather information on conditions at MCSO jails. On Tuesday, they will tour the immigration detention centers in Florence and speak with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and detainees held in those facilities.

“This very important visit of the Inter-American Commission will give advocates the opportunity to provide concrete examples of how Arizona’s anti-immigrant policies are contributing to overcrowded jails and human rights violations,” said ACLU of Arizona Immigrant Rights Advocate Victoria Lopez. 

The ACLU and the law firm of Osborn Maledon went to court last August to argue that deteriorating conditions within each of the jail’s five facilities that house pre-trial detainees – people who have been arrested but not yet tried or convicted – necessitate federal court oversight to ensure that Arpaio and other county officials maintain safe and humane conditions and provide the thousands of pre-trial detainees held there basic levels of medical and mental health care. Arpaio has been attempting for nearly seven years to get out from under the consent decree that governs conditions under which those detainees are housed and which resulted from nearly two decades of litigation.  The ACLU also is providing legal representation to individuals, including U.S. citizens, who are suing Arpaio for targeting them for traffic stops based on their ethnicity.

The IACHR is one of two bodies in the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights. The commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The other human rights body is the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which is located in San José, Costa Rica.