Immigration hard-liner has his wings clipped

The Maricopa County sheriff, who has drawn scorn and praise for a running crackdown on illegal immigrants in this city's metropolitan area, said Tuesday that federal officials had taken away his deputies' authority to make immigration arrests in the field. The sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whose high-profile sweeps have been cited in the fevered debate over the need for an overhaul of immigration laws, said he had sought a renewed agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to allow both field arrests and immigration checks at his jails. But a high-level department official presented a document a couple of weeks ago allowing only for jail checks, Mr. Arpaio said.