Maricopa County, Arizona, taxpayers finally kicked the racist and disgraced sheriff Joe Arpaio out of office in 2016, but his racist antics will continue to cost them another $1 million. “Latinos who were illegally detained when then-Sheriff Joe Arpaio disobeyed a 2011 court order barring his immigration patrols can now seek compensation from the government,” reports the AP:
The federal judge who barred Arpaio's traffic patrols that targeted immigrants had ordered the creation of a taxpayer-funded compensation system in August 2016 for the illegal detentions. The one-year application period for seeking compensation began on Friday.
Under the compensation system, Maricopa County will pay $500 for the first hour of a person's illegal detention and $35 for each additional 20-minute increment.
A $10,000 cap was imposed on such compensation, but the judge said the victims can also seek money for other injuries resulting from the illegal detentions such as lost wages and emotional distress.
“County officials have set aside $1 million to cover the compensation costs,” with the judge saying “victims can also seek money for other injuries resulting from the illegal detentions such as lost wages and emotional distress.” While $1 million in taxpayer funds is a lot of money, it’s also chump change compared to the hell Latinos and immigrants had to go through, thanks to Arpaio and his band of deputies. All together, Arpaio’s racial profiling cost taxpayers nearly $70 million as of August 2017.
The fact is that Arpaio’s ass not only belongs in prison, he also deserves to be the one making those payments to his victims and getting sent to the poorhouse in the process. But following Donald Trump’s despicable pardon and taxpayers on the hook for his crimes, none of that’s happening. At the very least, let this be a some justice for his victims. According to the AP, “an advertising campaign is expected to be launched in a bid to locate victims.”