Sheriff Joe Arpaio ready for SB 1070 protests as both sides prepare to take to the streets

PHOENIX - Senate Bill 1070 is slated to take effect Thursday and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he is ready for whatever protestors have in store.

Thousands of people are expected to protest both for and against SB 1070.

The sheriff of the most populous county in Arizona says he's "not going to put up with any civil disobedience" when the state's new immigration law takes effect.

Arpaio says that if protesters want to block his jail, he'll put them in it.

The Arizona law, which takes effect Thursday, had required officers enforcing other laws to check a person's immigration status if they suspect the person is in the country illegally. But Wednesday U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton blocked parts of the law including the sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. The judge also put on hold a part of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places.

Arpaio told ABC's "Good Morning America" he doesn't know "what the big hype is."

He says it's "a crime to be here illegally and everyone should enforce" the law.

Arpaio issued a statement Tuesday morning:

“Intelligence gathering leads us to believe that several acts of civil disobedience are planned - here at my office headquarters in the Wells Fargo Bank high rise in downtown Phoenix; at the jails including Tent City and at Thursday's crime suppression operation which will be conducted by my deputies and posse members,” Arpaio said.

“Activists and their celebrity sympathizers who wish to target this community and this Sheriff by attempting to disrupt our jail and patrol operations will be unsuccessful as we will be fully prepared to meet those challenges head on with appropriately staffed personnel and resources."