PHOENIX (By Paul Giblin, NYTimes) March 24, 2008 — Scores of sheriff’s deputies, assisted by civilian volunteers and shadowed by observers from immigration advocacy groups, conducted saturation patrols this weekend in neighborhoods where illegal immigrants live, work and worship.

The authorities said that the initial sweep, which began about sundown on Friday, led to the arrests of nine people who could not prove United States citizenship and four other people on unrelated charges like outstanding warrants.

Deputies initially stopped motorists on traffic violations and then asked them for identification.

The observers tried to ensure that people snared in the operation were treated properly by law enforcement personnel under the direction of the county’s hard-edged sheriff, Joe Arpaio.

“The guy is completely attacking an entire class of people based on their color,” said Adolfo Maldonado, an engineer who said he has trailed sheriff’s deputies on patrol. “He’s racial profiling.”

Sheriff Arpaio dismissed the criticisms.

“We’re not going on the street corner, grabbing 15 people because they look like they came from Mexico,” the sheriff said. “We don’t do that. We only develop the illegal immigration situation when we come across people violating the law.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office began the patrols on Friday in response to small-business owners who complained that day laborers loiter in the East Phoenix neighborhood, harass customers and leave litter, including beer cans. Law enforcement officials set up a command center and booking facilities in a parking lot outside a Goodwill store at a strip mall.

The site in a working-class neighborhood is just blocks from Pruitt’s furniture store, which became a flash point for the immigration debate last year when a similar operation by sheriff’s deputies touched off protests on both sides of the issue. In that operation, 134 people were arrested, 94 of whom were determined to be in the country illegally.

Melody Jafari, owner of Jafari Chiropractic and Acupuncture, said gangs of men standing outside her business scared customers.

“All we want is even-handed enforcement,” Ms. Jafari said. “The same laws that apply for myself and the businesses, we want them to apply for everybody, and that includes the men loitering on the streets and trespassing and soliciting and impeding traffic.”

Immigrant advocates who tried to conduct their own news conference just outside the command center were interrupted by four people on Harley-Davidson motorcycles adorned with American flags. The cyclists stopped their bikes and revved their engines, making conversation impossible.

On the streets, it was easy for two of the observers, Magdalena Schwartz and Dan Peitzmeyer, to spot the patrols.

They first saw two deputies outside a check-cashing store, where they stopped a woman they said had driven through a red light.

The woman told the observers that her name was Paola Rodriguez and that she was in the country illegally. By that time, however, she had already given the deputies her Mexican voter identification card, making her chances of being deported far more likely. Deputies placed her in the back of a patrol car and drove her to the command center for processing.

“My issue is just respect and dignity,” Mr. Peitzmeyer said. “Don’t be abusive.”

Minutes later, two blocks away, Ms. Schwartz and Mr. Peitzmeyer came across another set of deputies who had pulled over a vehicle at a convenience store, where the driver worked as a clerk. The deputies stopped him for making an illegal left turn.

Ms. Schwartz approached him as he sat in his vehicle and learned that his name was Israel Salenas and that he, too, was an illegal immigrant. Before the deputies instructed her to step away, she advised Mr. Salenas to refuse to answer any questions regarding his residency status.

Deputies arrested him for driving on a suspended driver’s license.

Sheriff Arpaio scoffed at the suggestion he chose Easter weekend to catch illegal immigrants headed to church.

“I don’t know if we should bring religion into a political or law enforcement operation,” he said. “We work every day of the week. It doesn’t matter what day it is. We planned this awhile back, and I’m not going to abort this operation because some people might be concerned it’s Good Friday.”