Former Maracopa County, Arizona Sheriff Arpaio was recently convicted for ignoring a federal order to stop harassing Latino citizens under suspicions that they were undocumented. At the time of this writing, he is reportedly due to be processed for a jail sentence in October but it's also been reported that President Trump has been considering pardoning Arpaio.

President Trump's interested in pardoning power

The president told Fox News on Sunday from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey that he would be deciding on whether to pardon him within days.

This would be one of the first times in his presidency that he would be pardoning anyone that isn't himself. In recent months, President Trump had reportedly been speaking with his legal team about pardoning himself, family members, and others within his circle.

When reported, the effort was seen as a way for the president to try and get out of any criminal charges that special prosecutor Robert Mueller might bring. Donald Trump and campaign aides are currently under investigation for possibly colluding with Russian officials to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.

Arpaio and Trump's hunt for Mexicans

Joe Arpaio has been a loyal Trump supporter, especially on his anti-immigration agenda.

During the decades that Arpaio had been sheriff, he increased efforts to reduce "illegal" immigration offenders before the court decided that he had violated people's civil rights. This was the case when he made an authoritative effort to go after Latinos to check to "make sure" they were legal.

Much like Trump, Joe Arpaio remained defiant against civil rights laws then, and court orders now -- such as the one that resulted in his recent conviction.

President Trump's pardon will no doubt continue this pattern and send a message to anti-immigration enforcers that they can continue to test the limits of civil rights. Trump's announcement came one full day after the violent attack on counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia by white nationalists. The violent rally resulted in the deaths of 32-year-old protester Heather Heyer, two police officers, and injured 19.

Trump will inflame racial tension in Phoenix with Arpaio

President Trump was also condemned by the public and lawmakers over the weekend for not going far enough to denounce the hate groups at the rally. This was especially true because on Tuesday, he had the final say on his stance by blaming all sides and put counter-protesters on the same level as those Nazi sympathizers, but he has yet to say anything about Arpaio.

Coincidentally, Trump is scheduled to have a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday where it's presumed that he will use the rally as a public platform to pardon Arpaio. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has already asked that Trump stay away from the city.
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