In 1993, Arpaio set up a "Tent City" — which he described as a "concentration camp" — as a temporary extension of the Maricopa County Jail for convicted and sentenced prisoners. It was located in a yard next to a more permanent structure. On July 2, 2011, when the temperature in Phoenix hit , Arpaio measured the temperature inside these tents at . Some inmates complained that fans near their beds were not working, and that their shoes were melting from the heat. During the summer of 2003, when outside temperatures exceeded , Arpaio said to complaining inmates, "It's 120 degrees in Iraq and the soldiers are living in tents and they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!" He later claimed that the "concentration camp" remark had been a joke, pointing out: "What difference does it make? I still survived. I still kept getting re-elected.”