Border Patrol Raids Humanitarian Aid Camp In Arizona

Border Patrol agents raided a humanitarian aid camp in the Arizona desert on Friday and arrested four people who they say were in the country illegally.

The raid took place at the "No More Deaths/No Más Muertes" medical aid camp, which provides food, water and medical care for people crossing the Sonoran Desert on foot. In a statement, the camp said border patrol agents began surveilling the camp on Tuesday, setting up a temporary checkpoint outside the property line to search those leaving and interrogate them about their citizenship status.

The group said the heavy law enforcement presence is deterring people from seeking aid at the camp. An excessive heat warning is in effect across the southwestern United States and temperatures are expected to reach as high as 120 degrees.

In a statement, border patrol agents said they had used surveillance technology to track the four individuals who were walking on a known smuggling route. The agency said they were left with no recourse but to request a federal warrant to enter the camp to search for the four men after initial efforts to resolve the situation were unsuccessful.

"In temperatures surging over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the US Border Patrol raided the medical-aid camp of humanitarian organization No More Deaths and detained four individuals receiving medical care," the aid group said in a statement. "Obstruction of humanitarian aid is an egregious abuse by the law-enforcement agency, a clear violation of international humanitarian law, and a violation of the organization’s agreement with the Tucson Sector Border Patrol."

Border patrol agents said they took the individuals to a local hospital as a precautionary measure where hospital staff said they did not require further medical attention. All of the individuals were Mexican nationals and one of them is a convicted felon who had been previously deported.

Image by Sebamirum via Flickr Creative Commons