20% of Maricopa County inmates are undocumented immigrants

Last Update: 8/25 8:37 pm

Reported by:
Brendon Brooks

After 18 months of intense immigration and human smuggling operations, more than 16,000 inmates in the Maricopa County were determined to be undocumented immigrants.

According to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 60 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) trained detention officers have conducted over 106,000 interviews and investigations of inmates booked into the country jail since April 2007.

Those 16,000 inmates have either already been deported or will be deported after being tried and/or serving their sentences for crimes committed in the Valley.

Of the approximate 2,000 undocumented immigrant inmates, 70 percent were arrested on felony crimes.

Of those 70 percent, 27 percent of the accused were arrested on drug charges.

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