A spokeswoman for President Trump says he will not pardon former Sheriff Joe Arpaio while visiting Arizona.
Trump sparked speculation about a possible pardon when he told Fox News in a recent interview that he was considering issuing one. But White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters traveling with Trump on Tuesday that "there will be no discussion of that today at any point, and no action will be taken on that front at any point today."
Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff, was recently convicted in federal court of disobeying court orders to stop his immigration patrols.
Immigrant rights advocates, including U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Tucson Democrat leading a protest of the president today in Phoenix, had criticized a potential pardon by Trump.
Grijalva says a pardon of Arpaio would send a clear signal to the nation that Trump condones the racial profiling that led to the sheriff's recent conviction.
