At 1:00 PM PST today, a Phoenix, Arizona county sheriff will order 220 illegal aliens to be chained together and marched from a county jail to their new home: an array of canvas tents spread in the middle of the desert surrounded by an electric fence. 

Known as Tent City, the facility is the brainchild of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, opened in August of 1993. Since then, the compound has been what the Sheriff's office describes as a safe and cost effective way of housing inmates, combating overcrowding in the county jail, and providing easier access for foreign governments to visits to the inmates.

In a press statement, the Sheriff's office called the move into Tent City "a financially responsible alternative to taxpayers already over burdened by the economic drain imposed by a growing number of illegal aliens on social services like education and healthcare."

The march from the Durango Jail complex to Tent City is expected to take an hour. Once at the destination, Sheriff Arpaio has arranged for them to be instructed in American immigration laws, "as a way to help them understand that the violation of these laws has serious consequences not only to them but to society as a whole."

Those found violating the rules of Tent City may be locked up in shackles as part of a chain gang charged with cleaning debris from nearby areas impacted by illegal immigration activities.

The illegal aliens, who the Sheriff's office says "have all involved in an assortment of crimes not just being found to be illegal aliens," will reside here until they are deported to their home countries.

Regardless of whether you agree with his non-conventional ways, Sheriff Arpaio has built up a reputation for tough but economical managing of the illegal immigrant population in his county. Over the years, he has found a myriad of ways to cut costs and save taxpayer dollars.

"We took away coffee, that saved $150,000 a year. Why do you need coffee in jail?" asked Arpaio. "Switched to bologna sandwiches, that saved half a million dollars a year." 

Arpaio also makes the inmates pay for their meals, which costs the inmate 90 cents, and boasts about how his garbage chain gangs for men and women provide thousands in free labor each month. 

But not everyone is applauding the Sheriff's work. Complaints abound in response to the harsh prison conditions in Tent City, such as the brutal desert heat, which can can top 100 degrees and dive into the 40's at night. Others feel the manual labor is bordering medieval.

"Sheriff Arpaio has conditions in his jail that are inhumane, and he's proud of it," said Eleanor Eisenberg of the American Civil Liberties Union.  

And the New York Times Editorial Board calls the Sheriff "a genuine public menace with a long and well-documented trail of inmate abuses, unjustified arrests, racial profiling, brutal and inept policing and wasteful spending."

In their claim, the Times cites a report about the reign of Sheriff Arpaio, as summarized in the blog below:

What has risen on Sheriff Arpaio’s watch: violent crimes (up 69 percent overall from 2004 to 2007, with homicides up 166 percent in those three years), 911 response times, unserved arrest warrants, racist sweeps of Latino neighborhoods, and dollars paid out in budget overruns, overtime and lawsuit settlements.

What has declined: the arrest rate, the number of satellite booking stations, public access to department records, Sheriff Arpaio’s reputation.

Watch the Video:

Also Interesting

[+] Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. may be closer to 20 million

[+] The cost of illegal immigrants

[+] Illegal Immigrants in the prison system[+] Homeland Security officials hired illegal immigrants for home cleaning

[+] Number of illegal immigrants decreasing