A group known in Arizona for assisting illegal aliens through the desert after they cross the border forced U.S. Border Patrol agents to obtain a warrant to search for migrants in their camp. The agents later arrested four Mexican nationals.
Border Patrol agents assigned to the Tucson Sector used technology surveillance to detect four suspected illegal aliens who crossed the border along a known human smuggling route. The four individuals were wearing camouflage as they walked northward from the Mexican border, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by U.S. Border Patrol officials.
Other agents working near Arivaca, Arizona, tracked the four migrants to a No Mas Muertes (No More Deaths) Camp. No Mas Muertes is an organization that assists illegal aliens in their march through the Arizona desert.
When agents contacted camp officials to search for the alleged illegal border crossers, the officials refused.
“Tucson Sector Border Patrol reached out to No Mas Muertes Camp representatives to continue a positive working relationship and resolve the situation amicably,” Border Patrol officials stated. “The talks, however, were unsuccessful.”
Agents subsequently sought and obtained a warrant to search the camp and question the four suspected illegal aliens. Agents found the migrants and questioned them about their citizenship and legal right to be present in the U.S. Satisfied that the four people were illegally present in the country, agents took them into custody.
A similar incident occurred a month earlier, officials stated. Agents detected eight individuals entering the camp. The negotiations with camp officials, in that case, were successful. Agents arrested the eight illegal aliens and subsequently learned that at least two of the foreign nationals had significant criminal histories from previous illegal entries into the U.S. Two other illegal aliens were in need of medical attention. Those migrants were transported to an area hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Camp officials reacted harshly to this week’s arrest of illegal aliens in their camp.
“Today’s raid on the medical aid-station is unacceptable and a break in our good-faith agreements with Border Patrol to respect the critical work of No More Deaths,” Abuse Documentation and Advocacy Coordinator Kate Morgan stated in an article published on the group’s website.
They claim to operate their camps “as a medical facility under the International Red Cross Standards, which the say gives them the right to refuse cooperation with Border Patrol agents.
“The Border Patrol acknowledged that they tracked a group for 18 miles, but only after the migrants sought medical treatment did the Border Patrol seek to arrest them,” No More Deaths Founder John Fife claimed. “The choice to interdict these people only after they entered the No More Deaths camp is direct evidence that this was a direct attack on humanitarian aid. At the same time, the weather forecast is for record-setting deadly temperatures.”
While the group’s website claims their goal is to help the illegal aliens in their efforts to enter the U.S., at least one of article posted on their site could place migrants in more danger.
The article written by Aljazeera America, titled “For migrants in Arizona who call 911, it’s Border Patrol on the line,” appears to warn migrants in distress in the desert against calling 911. “When most people dial 911 due to a medical emergency, they don’t expect to talk to Border Patrol,” the group states. “But that’s exactly what happens to many undocumented migrants who call for help from Arizona’s southern desert.”
The article continues:
When 911 calls come in to BORSTAR, supervising agent John Redd said, quite often callers in distress don’t realize they have been transferred to Border Patrol. And the agency doesn’t inform them, according to Redd: “[W]e don’t tell them it’s the Border Patrol, because we’re trying to preserve life. But the fact is we’ve got another job to do, too. If we do tell them it’s Border Patrol, when we get there, they’re going to be gone.” If agents manage to find migrants in distress, they stabilize them medically and then book them, Redd said.
Advocates for migrants say this system prioritizes the apprehension and deportation of migrants and leads to needless deaths. Calls from migrants in distress sometimes bounce from one agency to another, with no mechanism to ensure accountability or track how cases are handled. Determining whether a caller is an undocumented migrant is at the discretion of the 911 dispatcher who picks up the phone call and is often based on racial profiling, said Cristen Vernon, the missing-migrant project coordinator with Derechos Humanos, an immigration advocacy group in Tucson.
However, Breitbart Texas has reported regularly on illegal aliens in distress that are rescued by Border Patrol agents and BORSTAR rescue teams. Earlier this month, Pima County-Ajo dispatchers notified Border Patrol of a 911 call from a distressed alien in the desert.
Border Patrol agents found the man struggling for his life. BORSTAR agents responded with their emergency medical training, giving him immediate help. Agents called a Life Flight evacuation helicopter for transport. Life Flight flew the illegal migrant flown to a Tuscon hospital for treatment.
Had the man not called 911 and had Border Patrol agents and BORSTAR not responded, the man likely would have died alone in the desert.
In May, Border Patrol agents rescued five other illegal aliens near the Ajo Station.
On balance, it is the ruthless cartel-connected human smugglers who put these illegal aliens at risk in the desert. If a person being smuggled falls behind for any reason, such as dehydration, injury, or exhaustion, the coyotes will simply leave them behind to die in the desert.
In May, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials issued a warning about the dangers of crossing the border in the heat of the summer. “Unscrupulous smugglers often abandon migrants in the desert who fall behind.,” CBP officials stated. “As a result, many perish every year. Border Patrol officials encourage anyone in distress to call 911 or activate a rescue beacon before becoming a casualty. In the fiscal year 2016 Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents rescued over 1,400 persons with many of those rescues conducted in the western Arizona region.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.
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