Citizens foot bill for racial lawsuit

Judge says hundreds of Latinos harmed by sheri≠ ignoring order.

phoenix» Taxpayers already on the hook for $54 million in a racial profiling case against the longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix are about to get walloped with another worrisome cost.

Hundreds of Latinos will be able to seek money from the county government in the future for being illegally detained when Sheriff Joe Arpaio disobeyed a judge’s order to stop his immigration patrols.

Two weeks ago, a federal judge concluded that the lawman knowingly ignored the 2011 order because he believed continuing his immigration enforcement efforts would help his 2012 reelection campaign.

Even though the judge says hundreds of Latinos at a minimum were harmed by the sheriff’s defiance, the difficulties of finding victims might keep down the costs to taxpayers.

Some victims are immigrants who have returned to their home countries or moved on to jobs elsewhere in the United States. And many sheriff’s deputies didn’t keep records for the detentions in question.

Emilia Banuelos, an immigration attorney in Phoenix who isn’t involved in the profiling case, said some victims won’t likely come forward out of fear of retaliation from Arpaio’s office or resignation that unwarranted detentions are an unfortunate reality in their lives.

“People are scared. They don’t believe in the system,” Banuelos said.

The lawyers who pressed the case against Arpaio have searched for victims by getting help from foreign consulates, watching traffic-stop videos and poring over arrest and other police records. They say at least 190 people were detained in violation of the order.

The sheriff’s second-incommand, Jerry Sheridan, said the agency has held off on looking for victims to avoid appearances of interfering with the search. But he said a team of detectives will be ready to search for victims in the future.