Infamous tent city in Maricopa county comes to a close

News from La Opinion

Sherriff Paul Penzone of Maricopa county in Arizona, announced that it will be shutting down “tent city”, a prison opened in the early nineties by former sheriff Joe Arpaio. The prison was known for housing inmates who wore old-fashioned striped jumpsuits with pink underwear.

The facility was first opened, according to former sheriff Arpaio, as a symbol of his ‘tough on crime’ stance. However, according to current sheriff Penzone there is no evidence that the prison is a crime deterrent and instead is costly.

Human rights groups protested the prison for its inhumane conditions of keeping inmates in tents in the sweltering temps of Arizona, as well as the abuse of its migrant inmates for labor. The prison was under a federal contract with the Obama administration for migrant labor, but the contract was canceled after accusations of abuses.

Currently, local rights groups in Maricopa county are taking the fight one step further and demanding that the newly appointed sheriff remove Immigration Customs Enforcement agents from its prisons.