Arizona County Deported 26K—Without the New Law

Since 2007, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has deported or forced the departure of a whopping 26,146 immigrants through a federal-local partnership program. That's a quarter of the national total, without the benefit of the new Arizona law that legalizes checking papers of anyone who looks to law enforcement like he might be in the country illegally, the AP notes.

Homeland Security has been criticized for poor supervision of this program, called 287(g), resulting in local officers operating outside the terms of the agreement. In October, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tactics led the federal government to yank his authority to enforce immigration laws during patrols. The sheriff claimed the move was biased and that his officers had had 5 weeks of training in the program. Read the full article. (More Maricopa County stories.)