Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is disbanding the controversial unit that investigates undocumented immigrant workers.
Lawyers for the sheriff told a judge that Arpaio plans to shut the squad down once a current investigation wraps up in January or February. The judge is overseeing a challenge to some of the cases of undocumented workers using fake or stolen IDs.
The ID theft cases are the sheriff’s last major foothold in immigration enforcement, after his powers to enforce those laws have been curtailed in recent years.
Since 2008, sheriff’s deputies have raided 83 businesses and charged more than 700 immigrants with using fake or stolen IDs to get hired.
A memo from a sheriff’s official says the agency will be halting its work-related ID theft enforcement.