evealing how far left the federal government has been driven under the Presidency of Barack Obama, the Department of Justice last month in a stunning about-face announced a major legal assault against federally-trained immigration enforcement personnel in Arizona.

Taking sides with illegal aliens and the Mexican government, the Justice Department said it will investigate whether Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his immigration enforcement task force are guilty of civil rights violations such as "discrimination" against Hispanics or "racial profiling."

Arpaio's sheriff's department is the country's largest participant in a federal program that trains local police forces to enforce immigration laws. Feds trained Arpaio's men because Arizona has become a major route for smuggling drugs and illegal aliens into the U.S.

The investigation by the Justice Department was initiated after a series of public protests by illegal aliens and their political leaders who stirred up racial animosity by charging that Arpaio's enforcement operations against illegal aliens were "racist."

Hector Yturralde, head of the Hispanic group Somos America, said Arpaio targets Hispanics solely because of the "the color of their skin."

During Arpaio's two-year enforcement of immigration laws, his deputies arrested 2,723 illegal aliens on smuggling charges, and investigated 22,616 jail inmates who were ultimately determined to be in the U.S. illegally and subsequently turned over to federal authorities.

Hispanic advocacy groups, Hispanic lawmakers, and the Mexican government have repeatedly called for Arpaio's head.

When Arpaio separated illegal aliens from the general jail population to facilitate visits with families and Mexican consulate officials, Mexican Counsel General Carlos Flores Vizcarra denounced Arpaio for violating United Nations rules for the treatment of prisoners, and demanded "a stop to these tactics" which he hinted were racially-motivated.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, who won election with Hispanic votes, demanded a year ago that the federal government stop Arpaio from enforcing the law. He charged that Arpaio was engaging in racist practices and "racial profiling."

Last summer, then-Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano cut funding for Arpaio's human smuggling task force because she said the enforcement operations hurt the feelings of Hispanics, causing "trepidation in the immigrant community." With the support of Hispanic racial advocacy groups, she was picked by President Obama to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Left-wing groups are happy that the Feds are going after Arpaio.

"Our sense is that finally, finally, there is reception in Washington," said a grateful Monica Snadschafer, Arizona director of ACORN, a radical left-wing, taxpayer funded group whose leadership backed Obama for president.

Radical left-wing anti-white Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, who has in the past demanded federal action to stop Arpaio's immigration enforcement operations, announced at a news conference with Arizona ACORN leaders that he intends to hold hearings on Arpaio this month.

Arpaio says the attacks on him are political, designed to discredit immigration law enforcement.

"Everyone who is making an issue is a Democrat," he told the Arizona Republic. "The big problem is 287(g) [the federal program that trains local police in immigration enforcement]. I'm the most active participant, with 160 officers, and they're using me as a poster boy. They're using me as a catalyst to make an issue of this, hoping they can get something on me and my deputies on racial profiling so they can say, 'see what happens under 287 (g).'"

He says he simply enforces the law, regardless of race or national origin.

"We investigate because we are trained to do that by ICE {Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. If we come across a violation of the law and we determine they are illegal, we arrest them," he said.

While blacks, Hispanics, and left-wingers have targeted him, Arpaio has received considerable political and moral support from Middle America. Even the Arizona Republic admitted that Arpaio enjoys immense popularity in the county. The paper noted that voters elected Arpaio to his fifth consecutive term as sheriff in November by a wide margin.

State Sen. Russell Pearce, R, expressed outrage at the federal action against Arpaio.

"It stinks to high heaven. This is outrageous conduct on the part of the federal government. They're violating their own laws. When you impede the enforcement of their own laws, it's a violation of their laws," he said.

Ten Republican congressmen warned last month that the federal investigation of Arpaio could jeopardize immigration law enforcement efforts throughout the country. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the congressmen warned that the investigation should not be undertaken "for the purpose of politicizing or chilling immigration enforcement efforts."

Those who signed are Reps. Lamar Smith, TX, Jim Sensenbrenner, WI, Trent Franks, AZ, Elton Gallegly, CA, Steve King, IA, Howard Coble, NC, Ted Poe, TX, Louis Gohmert, TX, Gregg Harper, MS, and Jason Chaffetz, UT.