The White House says it didn't know about the release of hundreds of undocumented immigrants before it happened, but Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he has plenty of room for them in his jails.
Earlier this week, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency released hundreds of undocumented immigrants it has been detaining while investigating their cases and planning deportation procedures.
The agency often incarcerates immigrants before they have been convicted of any wrongdoing, sometimes for months or years. From a fiscal standpoint, that gets expensive.
Ahead of the sequester cuts likely coming this week, the ICE decided to save money by releasing several hundred detainees, though it apparently made the decision on its own, without pressure from the White House.
"The agency released these low-risk, non-criminal detainees under a less-expensive form of monitoring to ensure detention levels stayed within ICE's overall budget," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.
The Republican outcry was quick and vocal. Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer used words like "outrageous" and "unbelievable" to describe the move.
Maricopa County Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, infamous for his anti-immigration stances, offered a solution to ICE overcrowding.
"I'll take them. I have room in my tents. I would be happy to have them -- and I wouldn't even charge them. I would love to take them in the tents," he said, referring to Tent City, the outdoor detention center Arpaio runs where inmates must wear pink underwear. In the summer, temperatures in the Arizona heat can reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Arpaio says he believes the federal government had ulterior motives for the detainee release.
"I am always suspicious when the government that has billions of dollars has to say, 'We are going to release illegal immigrants because of budget problems,'" he said. "I'm wary of that. They're utilizing a budget so-called crisis as the reason to kick these people loose. I do have a concern about that."
The government is unlikely to take Arpaio up on his offer. But about 300 of the released detainees live in Arizona, so it's possible Arpaio and his deputies will be on the lookout for any of them who enter Maricopa County.
And Arpaio will surely hold onto them longer than the ICE.
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