Thread: Arpaio planning tent city space for arrested immigrants

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Arpaio planning tent city space for arrested immigrants

William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 14, 2006 03:19 PM


Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies are arresting enough illegal immigrants that at least 11 more large tents are needed at the Tent City Two complex outside the Towers Jail to house them, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Wednesday.

Tent City One is outside the nearby Estrella Jail in southwest Phoenix. There are about 2,000 inmates in the two tent facilities and about 10,000 inmates in all Maricopa County jails.

"We've been arresting about 100 people a month since the county attorney ruled that people involved in smuggling conspiracy could be prosecuted," Arpaio said. "We might arrest as many as 1,200 in the next year.''

In August, Arizona legislators passed an anti-human smuggling statute that gave prosecutors a tool to go after coyotes, or smugglers, who traffic in undocumented immigrants. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas later issued an opinion saying undocumented immigrants suspected of paying coyotes could be prosecuted as conspirators.

"The law is clear and I intend to enforce it," Arpaio said. "But we're going to run out of room (in the jails) at this rate." .

Arpaio said he doesn't expect putting up the new tents to be costly, even though concrete pads must be poured and electricity must be run to each unit. The tents are 18 feet by 52 feet.

"We already own the old military tents, and we'll use inmate labor for most of the work, so our biggest expense will be materials and we can take that out of operating expenses," Arpaio said.

But a shower and toilet facility will need to be built as well, and that will cost about $250,000, he said.

Arpaio said another new measure would create even more room for inmates.

"We're going to triple-bunk them, three high in the bunks," Arpaio said. "When you consider it gets about 140 degrees in the tents by about two in the afternoon on a hot summer day, that means really, really hot in that top bunk."

That inmates must put up with wretchedly hot conditions in the tents, "doesn't bother me a bit," he said.

"When people complain about those poor inmates being hot in tents I just say we send our soldiers to Iraq to defend our country and they stay in tents and it gets even hotter over there," he said. "That shuts up the critics fast."

County Board of Supervisors member Mary Rose Wilcox agrees that more space is needed for inmates, but she isn't convinced tents are the answer.

"We have to be careful of any treatment that could be considered inhumane," Wilcox said. "If the sheriff needs space we should give it to him, but we should be housing people in a humane manner. I also don't think that undocumented people should be blamed for needing the space. There are lots of other people in the jail."

Radio talk show host (KNAI-FM) and former state legislator Alfredo Gutierrez said putting more and more illegal immigrants in jail, "is a disastrous idea."

"Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio have finally figured out a way to bankrupt the county," Gutierrez said.

"After the taxpayers pay money to appoint lawyers for all these people and after most of those people are found guilty, it will cost millions. Arpaio has had multimillion-dollar judgments against him and the county for his ruthless, odd behavior.

"But this is the most futile yet."

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"Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio have finally figured out a way to bankrupt the county," Gutierrez said.

They will make it back in social services saved.

"Andrew Thomas and Joe Arpaio have finally figured out a way to bankrupt the county," Gutierrez said.

I don't think you can blame Joe and Andrew. They are enforcing the law. We can't abandon our law over the cost. We'll have to go under fighting if the Fed won't do any of the job.

If ICE would get off their ass and deport the illegals the cost of keeping and trying these people would be minimal. I think at most it should take no more then 24 hours to determine if a person is in this country illegally. At that point DEPORT THEM! How much could that possibly cost and look how much it will save.

Of course without a fence, wall, etc. it is probably a moot point because they will be back before the ink dries on their deportion papers.

Keep it up Sheriff! You are absolutely correct we can not allow lawlessness because of cost. We have allowed lawlessness and look what it is costing us...ironic isn't it.

If Arpaio can make the illegals earn their keep as they wear pink underwear (such as cleaning up our national parks decimated by illegals) then it will be worth the effort on his part to build another and another and another tent city.....the remarks against him are commensurate with the scumbag Mexican mentality which prefers anarchy. And who says the taxpayer has to pay for legal cousel for an illegal?....let the Mexican consulate pay for it.

More bologna sandwiches and pink underwear that is what they deserve while the ICE wastes dollars waiting to deport them. It is still cheaper than putting them in prison. Guiterrez is an idiot and thinks the current system is cheaper, not!!!

the green boloney as well as the pink underwear. Good ole Sheriff Joe. I used to live in Arizona for 5+ years and I remember him well. Very controversial and his enemies, liberals I believe, if that is what they are called, hated his guts and wanted him removed from office.

However, you have to admire his guts. Quite a brave man, in spite of being controversial. My ex-husband, a former-illegal alien from Mexico was in his tent-city jail at 35th Ave and Buckeye Rd? at night during 10 days he served as part of his punishment for drunk driving. There are also drugs in those jails brought in by the inmates.