Four people were arrested at a camp operated by No More Deathsin Arivaca on Thursday, according to a Tweet from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBP Arizona says agents served a search warrant and four people from Mexico were arrested for immigrations violations.
Nogales #CBP #USBP agents serve warrant and arrest 4 at No More Deaths camp in Arivaca, Arizona #HonorFirst pic.twitter.com/uw5Eg6MXQB
— CBP Arizona (@CBPArizona) June 16, 2017
According to its website, No More Deaths is a humanitarian organization dedicated to preventing the deaths of migrants in the desert. The group posted on its Facebook page Thursday evening, saying in part:
BREAKING: We are saddened and appalled to report that at about 6PM, in an unprecedented show of force, approximately 30 armed agents raided our humanitarian aid camp with 15 trucks, 2 quads and a helicopter to apprehend four people receiving emergency medical care.
On Wednesday the group posted on Facebook that agents were "actively surveilling the No More Deaths humanitarian aid camp."
In a press release CBP say using surveillance technology on Wednesday they detected four suspected illegal immigrants wearing camouflage and walking on a known smuggling route. Other agents tracked the group to the camp but did not find foot signs of the individuals leaving the camp.
Below is part of the release:
Tucson Sector Border Patrol reached out to No Mas Muertes Camp representatives to continue a positive working relationship and resolve the situation amicably. The talks, however, were unsuccessful.
Border Patrol says last month there was a similar incident at the camp involving eight people, and successful negotiations resulted in the surrender of those eight people. CBP says two of them had prior criminal records in the United States.
On Facebook, No More Deaths posted an account of what happened:
Agents from the Border Patrol began surveilling the No More Deaths’ camp on Tuesday, June 13th at around 4:30 PM. Agents in vehicles, on foot and ATV’s surrounded the aid facility and set up a temporary checkpoint at the property-line to search and interrogate those leaving about their citizenship status. The heavy presence of law enforcement has deterred people from accessing critical humanitarian assistance in this period of hot and deadly weather. These events also follow a pattern of increasing surveillance of humanitarian aid over the past few months under the Trump administration.
Read the full post here.
