The activity of armed civilians migrants near federal agents has caught migrants in the middle, potentially confused about who has actual enforcement duties on the border.
By Alex Horton Alex Horton General assignment reporter covering national and breaking news Email Bio Follow April 24 at 6:20 PM The camera panned across dozens of exhausted migrants crouched in the New Mexico night, fenced in by armed civilians. The woman filming issued a stern warning.
That activity has placed armed civilians within feet of federal immigration agents at night in wild shrub land, with migrants caught in the middle, confused about who has actual authority on the border and what their rights are on U.S. soil. “Border Patrol has never asked us to stand down,” Jim Benvie, a group spokesman, told the New York Times in a story April 18.
A member of the United Constitutional Patriots on the border in a March video. “Militia is a term used in a rather fluid manner,” said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University. “It’s loosely defined as an armed group engaged in some paramilitary operation.” Dave Kopel, an adjunct professor of constitutional law at Denver University, explained that in the American Revolution, militias were auxiliary forces that supplemented Continental troops across swaths of territory where an army presence was not always possible. Militias were crucial in raids and harassment campaigns against British soldiers.Now, organized militias are National Guard units and some state guard groups, he said.
The group has sought to distance itself from the appearance of coercion, with Benvie calling their activities “a verbal citizen’s arrest” and suggesting that their activity is not actual detainment.Still, Turley said, confusion may reign on the border when militiamen emerge from the dark with weapons drawn. “It’s very likely they view these militia members to be law enforcement,” he said.
In a statement on Twitter, CBP said it “does not endorse or condone private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands. Interference by civilians in law enforcement matters could have public safety and legal consequences for all parties involved.” “If we did anything wrong, if there had ever been anything wrong, not only would those videos have not been done live but the Border Patrol would have immediately acted,” Benvie said. “They don’t want civilians to enforce the law.”
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