Jason Chaffetz clearly has someone's attention.

"Mr. Chaffetz's immigration proposal is offensive and inhumane and should be rejected out of hand. His statements do nothing more than add more of the same divisive political rhetoric that incites confrontation and does not solve the problem," Richardson's statement read in part. Richardson briefly ran for president, has been a U.S. Representative, ambassador to the United Nations and was the U.S. Secretary of Energy.

Last month, Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., said the plan is reminiscent of the WWII Japanese internment camps in which a group of people was singled out ethnically and rounded up.

An exasperated Chaffetz said Thursday that his plan has been misunderstood or deliberately misconstrued.

"I want to enforce the law. And I'm sure that far-left, liberal Democrats like Bill Richardson and Bennion Spencer don't like it," he said. Spencer is one of Chaffetz's opponents in the 3rd District. "I've never said I want to round up people based on their ethnicity and throw them in a tent."

He did say Thursday that he could have used a better word than "tent." His former boss, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., told the Salt Lake Tribune 10 days ago that "on its face it's an extreme idea."

"I can do better calling them eco-friendly, highly portable, low-cost detention facilities," Chaffetz said. He now points to structures like those built by Utah company Sprung Instant Structures as a model. "You don't go down to Cabela's to get these things."

Chaffetz said he isn't the first to use the idea, either. States including Hawaii and Idaho already use similar facilities.

"I'm admitting that 'tent' is sensational," he said. "I can do a better job of articulating what these structures are."

The entire tent city idea is but one part of his plan, Chaffetz says. Indeed, other parts of Richardson's comments echo the Utah Republican's proposals.

"We can have a policy that helps secure our borders while dealing in a responsible and humane way with immigrants who break our laws," Richardson said. "At the same time we must also resolve the status of the 12 million undocumented immigrants already here so they can become legal, productive members of our society if they learn English, follow our laws, pay fines and get in line for a path to citizenship.

Chaffetz said it's easy for out-of-state opponents to criticize, but that if he could convince Richardson of the validity of his plan.

"My guess is if we sat and talked it through, we'd be fine," he said.

On Thursday, Chaffetz took particular exception to Spencer, who has said Chaffetz wants to put people in the tent cities based on ethnicity.

"I've never even come close to suggesting that," he said.

In a statement released Thursday night, Spencer disagreed, saying that Chaffetz has injected race into the immigration issue. "For Jason [Chaffetz] to state that his immigration proposal of imprisoning undocumented immigrants into tent cities surrounded with barbed wire has nothing to do with race is entirely disingenuous and dangerous as it would incite resentment against ethnic minorities and lead to racial profiling. We need a firm, yet responsible immigration policy that protects our borders while showing compassion and tolerance towards immigrants."