New York, NY/Phoenix, AZ, August 26, 2017 …

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today strongly condemned President Trump’s pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, issued the following statement:

President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio defies explanation and flies in the face of American values. We stand today with the Latino community, who have been the primary targets of Arpaio’s bigotry and feel the president’s decision to pardon him particularly acutely.

This pardon leads us to question where President Trump stands on the rule of law. Arpaio willfully defied a court order for racially profiling Latinos and now is getting away with it – a very dangerous precedent.  The pardon will foster divisions in our country at a time when we need healing. No doubt anti-immigrant extremists will celebrate this decision, but it is a sad day for Americans who care about justice, equality and strengthening our social fabric.

The Anti-Defamation League has been exposing Joe Arpaio’s extreme anti-immigrant tactics and bigotry for years. He has unlawfully targeted Latinos and intentionally held immigrants in deplorable and humiliating conditions. At the tent city jail he created in Arizona’s sweltering heat – boastfully comparing it to a concentration camp – he humiliated detainees.

No person in this country is above the law. Arpaio was convicted by a federal judge, and has never shown any remorse for his unlawful acts and his unabashed bigotry. The president’s decision to pardon him is inexcusable.