The county attorney’s office, which prosecutes ID theft cases and is one of the targets of the lawsuit, declined comment.
Immigrant rights advocates challenging business raids by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office have asked a judge to bar officials from charging people with identity theft if they’re accused of using fake or stolen IDs to get jobs.
Lawyers who filed a lawsuit over employment-related identity theft cases by Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office and other law enforcement agencies argue in court papers filed Thursday that the state laws on the matter are trumped by federal law.
Arpaio aide Jack MacIntyre said the laws are valid and meant to battle the problem of identity theft.
“It appears they just don’t like this kind of enforcement,” MacIntyre said.
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