Sheriff's Hotline Receives 1,200 Tips

In its first month of operation, the Maricopa County Sheriff's hotline to report suspected illegal immigrants has received approximately 1,200 tips from the public.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said many of the calls involved businesses allegedly hiring illegal help. "We're not going around going grabbing all those businesses, but we have the intelligence and we'll see in the future.

"Maybe when a new law takes effect in January, we may pass that on to the prosecutors who are mandated by the legislature to enforce that civil - this is civil law," said Arpaio.

Arpaio said only a handful of arrests have resulted from tips to the hotline.