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Officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said that eight people have been arrested in a "crime suppression sweep" that started Friday afternoon.
So far, four of the eight are U.S. citizens with misdeamor warrants, according to an e-mail sent out at about 8 p.m.
The other four were said to be in the country illegally and two of those had misdemeanor charges against them.
Protesters greeted Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his deputies Friday as he launched the latest in his series of "crime suppression" sweeps.
The Sheriff kicked off the operation with a press conference near the town of Buckeye near Interstate 10 and Miller Road.
Arpaio calls the area "a hotbed of human smuggling" that breeds violence.
Authorities say since 2002 the Sheriff's Office has investigated ninety murders in the area, 39 murder victims were undocumented immigrants.
"We fear this kind of violence will continue in Maricopa County, " he said. "In this area, illegals have been executed, tied up, shot in the head."
"You talk about about one thing and talk about it as if what you're doing on the ground makes sense, " said protester Annie Loyd. "This doesn't make sense. If you want to investigate real criminals go after real criminals not people with broken windshields and people who are brown."
The sheriff conducted four similar sweeps in the Phoenix area last year, drawing the ire of activists who accused him of targeting undocumented immigrants and abusing their rights.
Deputies will conduct traffic stops, and if they find suspected undocumented immigrants they'll arrest them.
Deputies will be out in full force Friday and Saturday until around midnight.
