The President of the U.S., Donald Trump, on Friday, August 25, 2017, pardoned Joe Arpaio, who was the former Republican sheriff of Maricopa County, in Arizona, from 1993 until January 1, 2017, following his defeat in his November 2016 bid for re-election. Arpaio had recently been convicted of criminal contempt due to being found guilty of violating a court order in a racial profiling case by continuing patrols that targeted immigrants. During the campaign preceding the U.S. Presidential Election last year, he was a vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s campaign, along with supporting some of his significant policies regarding immigration and border controls. This pardon marks the very first one of the Donald Trump presidency. The decision by Trump to pardon Arpaio sparked substantial criticism and controversy from many members of the main U.S. political parties and civil rights groups.

The White House praised Arpaio in a statement which read “Throughout his time as sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration.” It further stated that “Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now 85 years old, and after more than 50 years of admirable service to our nation, he is (a) worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.” The ACLU, in a statement, said: “Once again, the president has acted in support of illegal, failed immigration enforcement practices that target people of color and have been struck down by the courts.” Furthermore, they added that “His pardon of Arpaio is a presidential endorsement of racism.” Sally Yates, the former acting Attorney General of the U.S., on Twitter, stated that “With his pardon pen, POTUS reveals his own contempt for our Constitution, our courts, and our founding principles of equality and justice.” Jeff Flake, a Republican Senator from Arizona, tweeted “Regarding the Arpaio pardon, I would have preferred that the President honor the judicial process and let it take its course.” Meanwhile, the other Arizona senator, Republican John McCain, said: “Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders.”

From a closer examination of the controversial career of Joe Arpaio as sheriff of Maricopa County, it is evident that this decision by Donald Trump is a major mistake, based on core humanitarian and social justice principles aside from international laws being broken. The profiling, brutality, and racism of Arpaio’s regime, which included dire living conditions for prisoners and a significant failure to investigate sexual crimes where the victims were undocumented immigrants points to major failures of his regime to improve the quality of life for Maricopa County as a whole. The decision to pardon him, as many voices from across the political spectrum have indicated, promotes the viewpoints and principles of institutional racism and bigotry on a massive scale and decreases any hopes that people may have had about the Trump administration defending their basic human rights. Even from a strategic political perspective, this move is perplexing, given that Arapaio had been defeated by a wide margin by his rival, Paul Penzone, a Democrat, in his re-election bid for sheriff, while Trump narrowly won Maricopa County during the same election date. This fact makes it more difficult to ascertain the motives behind such a controversial decision.

The implications of this pardon are significant. From a civil rights perspective, this further marginalizes vulnerable individuals and communities, while invigorating those who seek to inflict harm upon them. From a political perspective, this further alienates Hispanic communities, who were the primary targets of Arpaio’s policies, from the Republican Party, in a state that is transforming into a competitive political battlefield. Ultimately, the act of a pardon sets concerning precedents about the attitudes of the U.S. government and the Trump administration towards civil rights.