Sheriff to separate inmates by status

PHOENIX - The self-proclaimed "toughest sheriff in America" has announced plans to keep illegal immigrants separated from the rest of the inmate population in tents that house prisoners.

"This is a population of criminals more adept perhaps at escape," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said in a news release. "But this is a fence they won't want to scale because they risk receiving quite a shock, literally," he said, referring to the electric fence that surrounds the area.

Arpaio said housing the illegal immigrants separately would save money, although he did not explain how, other than to say it is cheaper to house inmates in tents rather than at traditional jails.

He also said the move will be more convenient for consulate officials visiting foreign inmates and for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents charged with deporting the inmates after they have served sentences in county jails.

Aside from their residency status, he said, the inmates will be treated just like everyone else housed in the tents.

A spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment.

Arpaio's announcement has appalled some officials in the area.

Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said she thinks Arpaio could potentially be violating the immigrants' rights by keeping them separated, and that she'd like to talk to the Justice Department and have staff there issue an opinion.

"Anytime you treat people differently for no reason, you stand to violate rights," she said. "We treat people equally in America. I think it's wrong."

She said the move is a publicity stunt and that Arpaio has done nothing to show the supervisors how it would save money.