SASABE, Ariz. (KGUN) — There’s tension between Border Patrol and the volunteer aid groups that give food and shelter to migrants waiting to be processed at the border.
One of the focal points is a remote area along the border wall near Sasabe, Arizona.
Humanitarian aid volunteers say last week’s storm drenched hundreds of migrants there.
“This really was the worst case scenario, in terms of the cold and the rain and the lack of response from Border Patrol,” said Chris Matera, a volunteer with the group No More Deaths. “We saw a lot of people just on the brink of getting really sick. And being in real mortal danger.”
But Matera and other volunteers say Border Patrol never arrived, citing bad conditions on the steep dirt roads that run the roughly 15 miles between where the migrants waited and the CBP processing center in Sasabe.
“I think it’s appalling,” said Matera. “It’s really appalling. There was a blatant disregard for people’s lives… I think competence and compassion can go hand-in-hand often.”
Some volunteers transported the migrants to the processing center themselves, which Border Patrol says is illegal.
In just the past week, volunteers also built makeshift shelters for the migrants made out of tarps and blankets.
While the weather is better this week, volunteers say there’s not enough Border Patrol presence in the area.
“It makes me very angry because I know we’re a country with resources,” said Dora Rodriguez, another one of the humanitarian aid volunteers. “It is very upsetting, it is very inhumane, because as I say to everybody in this country, this is not where you are sitting political-wise, this is a humanitarian crisis.”
Border Patrol sent KGUN a statement this week, in part calling for more funding from Congress, and committing to protecting the lives of migrants while also warning them not to cross the border illegally:
“The encounter levels we are currently seeing across the southwest border are presenting a serious challenge to the men and women of CBP. To meet this challenge, we are using all available resources to ensure the safety and security of our agents and officers, and the migrants who are often misled and victimized by the transnational criminal organizations. These smugglers are recklessly putting migrants into harm’s way: in remote locations across the border, onto the tops of trains, or into the waters of the Rio Grande. We continue to go after the smugglers and are implementing new measures to impose consequences on transportation companies including bus and van lines used by smuggling organizations and nefarious actors to move migrants through northern Mexico and to our southwest border. CBP and our federal partners need additional funding from Congress so that we can continue to effectuate consequences for those who do not use the established pathways.”
Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, Customs and Border Protection
CBP’s message for anyone who is thinking of entering the United States illegally along the Southern border is simple: don’t do it. CBP is committed to preventing the loss of life among migrants attempting to enter the United States. However, when migrants cross the border illegally, they put their lives in peril. The terrain along the border is extreme and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving. People who made the decision to journey into this territory have died of dehydration, starvation, drowning, and heat stroke. Smugglers continue to lie to migrants, claiming the borders are open. The borders are not open to irregular migration, and people should not attempt to make the dangerous journey.
Customs and Border Protection