Sheriff Joe Arpaio Celebrates Tent City's 18th Anniversary: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
Sheriff Joe Arpaio Celebrates Tent City's 18th Anniversary
PHOENIX - It's the 18th anniversary of Tent City's opening on Wednesday, and there's a big celebration planned.
Tent City, known as the nation's largest canvas incarceration compound, houses men, women and suspected illegal immigrants.
In 1992, Sheriff Joe Arpaio promised the residents of Maricopa County that he would house convicted criminals in army surplus/donated Korean War tents.
Nearly half-a-million people have served their sentences there.
This year, a gift from the community and Fulton Homes was given to Arpaio.
It's an engraved tombstone-like marker which inmates will erect at the spot where in 1993, Arpaio, at high noon and in 111 degree heat, first announced the opening of the controversial alternative housing project.
The granite marker is engraved with the name of the facility, its opening date, the Office logo and the Sheriff's name.
The Department of Justice, Amnesty International, and the American Civil Liberties Union have criticized Arpaio for the harsh conditions under which they say inmates are forced to live.
Arpaio has always responded the same way, saying that U.S. military troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are housed in tents in similar conditions.
A stage is being set up for a detention officer posing as an Elvis impersonator, and cake will be served to the inmates.
Arpaio has also had inmates make hundreds of pink Sheriff Joe fans to keep everyone cool.
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Thanks to Terry T for this submission....
