Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Crosses Will Mark Immigrant Deaths Where Bodies Were Found To Warn Of Danger Of Illegal Border Crossing

Sheriff Joe Arpaio likes to think of himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff". His Maricopa County, Arizona jail - whose population consists mainly of people who are waiting to be tried - makes its inmates dress in pink underwear, houses them outdoors in triple-digit temperatures, puts them to work on chain gangs, and even used to feed them moldy bread and rotten fruit. And in May, a federal judge ruled that his officers were illegally using race in determining whether a person could reasonably be suspected of being in the country illegally. Now, the man Rolling Stone once called an "unabashed carnival barker" is announcing an effort which he says is meant to warn those who might hazard an illegal border crossing of the trip's dangers - and commemorate the lives of those who died while at it.

RELATED: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Racially Profiled, Rules Judge; Arpaio To Appeal

Maricopa County doesn't share a border with Mexico. But the desert which comprises a considerable swath of its territory lies on a popular route for migrants who brave a covert crossing into Arizona. According to the sheriff, 14 people have died and 30 have been rescued since June in and around Gila Bend, an area south of Phoenix. Arpaio announced on Thursday that his deputies will try to warn future crossers in that area in what he calls "an intentionally dramatic fashion" of the dangers of what they're doing by placing wooden crosses made by inmates in Arpaio's Tent City jail in places where bodies have been found. The crosses will be numbered and GPS sensitive, in an attempt to help his deputies rescue people who are in distress in the area and want to call for help.

RELATED: Arizona Woman Arrested For Smuggling A Pound Of Meth In Pelvic Area From Mexico

"If we have to do 1,000 of these, or 5,000, we'll do it," Arpaio told reporters. He also struck a more mournful tone, saying, "Every life is precious. It is our duty to preserve the peace and protect the public, no matter their national status or citizenry."

RELATED: Arizona Heat Wave To Prove Dangerous To Migrants, Says Border Patrol

The sheriff's announcements comes after a particularly black week: four peoples' bodies have been recovered in the last four days near Gila Bend, and two others were rescued from the area this week.

Arpaio, who has been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's immigration policy - also took the opportunity to criticize the federal government for failing to seal the border and said it should reimburse his county for "the time and resources spent on these mercy missions."