PHOENIX -- An Arizona sheriff known for his tough jail policies and aggressive immigration enforcement has banned undocumented immigrants from visiting people in his jails.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the ban was another part of his plan to crack down on illegal immigration in the biggest urban center in Arizona, the nation's busiest illegal entry point.

Arpaio also said in a statement that any jail visitor who is found to be in the country illegally will be arrested.

According to the statement, the sheriff views the visitation ban as another tool in his arsenal of ways to fight the problem of illegal immigration in Maricopa County.

Arpaio says it doesn't make any sense for him "to allow known criminal violators to visit inmates."

He says convicted felons aren't allow to visit inmates, so why would he "allow known illegal aliens, who are considered law breakers," into his jails?

The new policy, which takes effect in 10 days, drew criticism from immigrant rights advocates who said Arpaio was treating immigrants inhumanely.

Opponents Lash Out

Elias Bermudez, chief executive of Immigrants Without Borders, said the families of illegal immigrants in Arpaio's jail ought to be able to visit their incarcerated relatives.

Arpaio's crackdown on illegal immigration also was ruining the trust that police officers in neighboring jurisdictions had built in immigrant communities, Bermudez said.

"Everyone is talking about not cooperating with the police anymore," Bermudez said.

Arpaio said visitors to his five jails and Tent City must present identification and fill out a visitation request form before being granted an inmate visit.

If the visitor is not legally in this country, the visitor can be arrested by one of the sheriff's 160 federally trained deputies and officers.

An additional benefit to the new visitation ban will be a reduction in wait time for U.S. citizens visiting friends and family in the jail system, according to Arpaio.

Arpaio said visitors often experience wait times of up to four hours depending on the jail.

In addition to arresting more than 600 people under the state's immigrant smuggling law, Arpaio had 120 deputies and jail officers specially trained in enforcing federal immigration law.

He also has set up a hotline for people to report information about illegal immigrants.

READ: Foes Nix Sheriff's Migrant Hotline

Immigrant rights advocates said on Wednesday that they were setting up four phone lines for people to report racial profiling allegations that have arisen out of Arpaio's hotline.