Anti-Defamation League slams Arpaio pardon: 'We stand today with the Latino community'

— -- Criticism over President Donald Trump's decision to pardon Joe Arpaio shows no signs of slowing down.

The former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, was pardoned Friday by the president for his conviction on criminal contempt of a federal court order that he stop detaining people based on their immigration status.

Critics of the pardon view the move as a direct affront to Latinos, who were primarily detained.

Other minority communities have since been vocal about being united with the Latino community.

The Anti-Defamation League, which was founded more than 100 years ago to fight defamation against Jewish Americans, was among one of the first community-based organizations to announce its solidarity with the Latino community.

"President Trump’s pardon of Joe Arpaio defies explanation and flies in the face of American values," ADL chief executive officer Jonathan A. Greenblatt said Saturday in a statement. "We stand today with the Latino community, who have been the primary targets of Arpaio’s bigotry and feel the president’s decision to pardon him particularly acutely."

Greenblatt also took the opportunity to "question where President Trump stands on the rule of law."

He said, "Arpaio willfully defied a court order for racially profiling Latinos and now is getting away with it –- a very dangerous precedent. The pardon will foster divisions in our country at a time when we need healing. No doubt anti-immigrant extremists will celebrate this decision, but it is a sad day for Americans who care about justice, equality and strengthening our social fabric.

The ADL has had its eye on Arpaio for a while.

Said Greenblatt, "The Anti-Defamation League has been exposing Joe Arpaio’s extreme anti-immigrant tactics and bigotry for years. He has unlawfully targeted Latinos and intentionally held immigrants in deplorable and humiliating conditions. At the tent city jail he created in Arizona’s sweltering heat – boastfully comparing it to a concentration camp – he humiliated detainees.