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Controversial 'Tent City' Prison In Phoenix Turns 20

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One of the units at the Phoenix, Arizona, outdoor detention center known as Tent City. Temperatures in the bunks can reach 130 degrees in the summer (Jude Joffe-Block/Fronteras Desk)
One of the units at the Phoenix, Arizona, outdoor detention center known as Tent City. Temperatures in the bunks can reach 130 degrees in the summer (Jude Joffe-Block/Fronteras Desk)

This month, an unorthodox and controversial outdoor jail in Phoenix, Arizona, known as “Tent City” marks its 20th anniversary.

The facility was originally set up as a solution to jail overcrowding, but it has since become a symbol of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s get-tough law enforcement regime.

And the publicity the jail generates may be one of Arpaio’s biggest legacies.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Jude Joffe-Block reports from the Fronteras Desk in Phoenix.

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This segment aired on August 7, 2013.

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