Maricopa County, Arizona, has spent over a decade attempting to reform its sheriff’s department, particularly after Joe Arpaio gained notoriety for his extreme immigration enforcement tactics. The controversy intensified when legal immigrants filed a lawsuit against Arpaio and the county sheriff’s office, culminating in a 2015 federal court ruling that found Arpaio and his officials guilty of racial profiling against Latinos.
Arpaio was at the heart of this legal battle. From 2006 to 2017, he managed a controversial immigration detention program, instructing his deputies to detain anyone lacking valid identification or English proficiency. A U.S. Justice Department attorney described Arpaio’s reign as overseeing “the worst pattern of racial profiling by law enforcement in American history.”
In the wake of these findings, federal regulators began efforts to reform the sheriff’s department to rebuild trust with the county’s Latino community, which was gravely damaged during Arpaio’s time in office.
As a historian focused on U.S. immigration, it is clear to me that Arpaio’s detention methods reflected the stringent immigration policies influenced by his chief of staff, Stephen Miller. This approach resonates with how immigration officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection have been perceived as employing inhumane practices, drawing sharp criticism from legislators and civil rights advocates alike.
Creation of Tent City and Its Legacy
Throughout his tenure as sheriff from 1993 until 2017, Arpaio generated significant headlines with his establishment of Tent City and his aggressive immigration enforcement methods.
Tent City was initiated in August 1993 to alleviate overcrowding in Phoenix’s jail system, utilizing surplus military tents from the Korean War to accommodate up to 1,700 inmates. By its closure in 2017, Sheriff Paul Penzone reported that the facility cost taxpayers approximately $8.5 million per year to operate.
Originally designated for criminal detainees, Tent City began housing undocumented immigrants in 2009 under Arpaio’s directive. Reports indicated that he subjected inmates to degrading treatment, including forcing them to wear pink underwear and providing them with expired food, along with undrinkable water. The tents failed to shield inmates from the intense Arizona heat, with temperatures reaching up to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54 degrees Celsius), prompting national outrage.
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Since 2006, sheriff departments under Arpaio and in Maricopa County have faced allegations of “unlawful and discriminatory police practices targeting Hispanic populations,” as stated by Assistant Attorney General Mark Kappelhoff. He asserted that Arpaio directed his deputies to detain individuals suspected of being undocumented immigrants, utilizing their presence even during inconsequential traffic stops. A Justice Department investigation confirmed that race was, in fact, a determining factor in stopping Latino drivers, leading to wrongful arrests of lawful residents and citizens.
Comparisons with Modern Detention Facilities
Tent City serves as a precursor to contemporary detention facilities operated by ICE, where detainees report similar grievances regarding living conditions and food quality. Currently, ICE manages about 70,000 individuals spread across 224 detention centers nationwide.
Camp East Montana, the latest addition to this troubling framework, opened in August 2025, comprising 60 acres and accommodating up to 5,000 detainees. Much like Tent City, it employs tents that offer minimal protection from the elements. A report from The Washington Post indicated that the facility’s inadequate food and austere living conditions violated around 60 federal regulations.
AP Photo/Morgan Lee
Arpaio’s tenure was marked by a staggering number of 6,000 federal lawsuits against his office, revealing the financial toll of his policies. Notable payments included $9 million awarded following a jury’s finding of negligence in the death of Charles Agster III, and $2 million to the family of Brian Crenshaw, a disabled man who died following an altercation with a sheriff’s detention officer.
However, the 2013 ruling in Melendrez v. Arpaio proved to be particularly damaging. U.S. District Judge Murray Snow determined that Arpaio’s office engaged in racial profiling, resulting in federal oversight of the department and mandating necessary reforms. Consequently, residents of Maricopa County bore a financial burden of $323 million for these reforms.
After retiring in January 2017, Arpaio faced an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2018. Nevertheless, the parallels between Arpaio’s immigration policies and those of former President Trump remain striking.
Since Trump’s administration, ICE and CBP officials have applied similar tactics, from erecting tent prisons to employing racial profiling during immigration enforcement. This approach has led to the wrongful detention of countless American citizens.
A similar pattern emerged when, on April 2, 2026, Judge Jennifer Thurston ruled that CBP officers had violated court orders by re-detaining individuals without proper justification. Such tactics are reminiscent of the strategies prominent during Arpaio’s tenure.
Arpaio’s enforcement methods foreshadowed the deportation policies introduced by Trump, which similarly relied on racial profiling and showed scant regard for human rights. In her dissenting opinion in the 2025 case Noem v. Vázquez Perdomo, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor highlighted that many Latinos now carry proof of citizenship out of fear of being racially profiled.
In July 2017, a federal court convicted Arpaio of criminal contempt for defying a 2011 order to stop detaining individuals merely suspected of being in the country illegally. Shortly thereafter, Trump issued a pardon, lauding Arpaio as a “great American patriot” who had made significant contributions to the fight against illegal immigration.
