WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) - The Department of Justice has sued Arizona's controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Arpaio is well known for his no nonsense approach to enforcing immigration law. The Justice Department suit accuses Arpaio of refusing to give his full cooperation to the department's probe of alleged national origin discrimination.
It stresses that programs which receive federal funds require grant recipients to cooperate with discrimination investigations by providing access to documents, facilities and staff.
The DOJ says the actions of Arpaio's office are "unprecedented." It added that it's unaware of any police department or sheriff's office that has refused to cooperate in such an investigation in decades.
