by Staff Reporter | Apr 4, 2025 | News
By Staff Reporter |
An American citizen is in critical condition after evading Border Patrol agents while smuggling illegal aliens over the weekend.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detailed the incident in a Tuesday press release. Detection technology observed the unnamed citizen driving a “suspicious” white Nissan Rogue traveling northbound from the border near Parker Canyon Lake around Sonoita around 3 pm on Saturday. The pursuit leading to the crash began after field agents located the car driving on state Route 83.
The vehicle stopped briefly to allow three individuals to exit, where they ran into the surrounding high desert. The vehicle continued northbound to evade Border Patrol agents along the highway, driving further for about four miles before apparently losing control and rolling onto its side. The driver lost consciousness on impact and sustained critical injuries.
Agents arrested two Guatemalan illegal immigrants and one Mexican illegal immigrant following the crash. All face charges for illegal reentry into the country, while the incapacitated driver faces alien smuggling charges.
U.S. citizen involvement in illegal alien smuggling has continued even amid heightened border security and mass deportation efforts under the Trump administration. A key initiative concerned Mexico and Canada committing 20,000 total troops and personnel to the southern and northern borders, respectively, to stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
Border Patrol also recently teamed up with the Department of Defense to beef up border security.
Field agents apprehended other Americans smuggling seven illegal aliens on Tuesday, also in the Sonoita area. The illegal aliens faced illegal entry and illegal reentry charges.
Two vehicles driven by two American citizens were apprehended in Willcox earlier this week.
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by Matthew Holloway | Feb 18, 2025 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
The passage of the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act (H.R. 35) in the U.S. House of Representatives last week was met with drastically opposite reactions from Republicans and Democrats. While Arizona Congressman Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ6), who introduced the bill, hailed it as a safeguard for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents and law enforcement officers, Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-OR5) decried the bill as “fear-mongering dressed up as officer safety.” She also compared it to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.
In a press release, Ciscomani’s office explained that the Agent Raul Gonzalez Officer Safety Act was so named for an agent of the Border Patrol who was tragically killed during a high-speed pursuit of an illegal immigrant. The bill was drafted in response, making failure to yield a federal offense, and intensifying if the illegal immigrant’s flight from authorities leads to a fatality. Should a person be killed during pursuit, the assailant could serve life in prison.
At the bill’s introduction, Ciscomani said, “Every day, communities across my district experience high-speed car chases that endanger the lives of residents and frontline law enforcement officers and agents. Far too often, these chases end in tragedy, as it did for Agent Raul Gonzalez and countless others. My legislation, fittingly named after Agent Gonzalez, would impose federal penalties on human smugglers and other bad actors that are involved in high-speech chases with federal and local law enforcement. We must send a clear message to anyone seeking to harm our communities that they will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Specifically, the bill establishes that a person fleeing from Border Patrol in a vehicle within 100 miles of the U.S. border would be “imprisoned for a term of not more than 2 years,” and adds that in the event that an officer suffers bodily injury or death resulting from the flight of an assailant from immigration enforcement, the penalties escalate. A bodily injury increases the sentence from five to twenty years. The death of an officer could result in life in prison.
The bill passed the House in a largely bipartisan vote of 264 – 155.
Despite the votes of her fellow Democrats, Congresswoman Bynum held a distinctly different and ahistorical view, comparing the bill to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Essentailly, she compared illegal immigrants living and working in the United States by choice, to Africans subjected to the horrors of chattel slavery in the 19th century.
Bynum told the House, “I urge my colleagues to oppose H.R. 35. Let’s call this bill what it is: fear mongering dressed up as officer safety. This bill echoes one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s history, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.”
She claimed, “Just like that shameful law, H.R. 35 forces authorities and encourages the deputizing of ‘randos’ to do the federal government’s work, punishing them if they refuse. Back then it was hunting down people who dared to seek freedom. Today, it’s forcing local police to become federal enforcers.”
National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Ben Petersen rejected Bynum’s statement, telling reporters that the Oregon Democrat is “hellbent on pursuing a dangerous anti-police officer crusade in Congress,” according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Petersen continued, “Bynum’s extremist vote siding with cartel terrorists over Border Patrol puts Oregonians in danger.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Dec 15, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
John R. Modlin, the Chief Patrol Agent (CPA) of the U.S. Border Patrol Tucson Sector released a statement on Tuesday announcing that the Douglas Station Field Training Unit tracked, located, and apprehended three illegal immigrants west of Douglas, AZ. They were the most recent of over 1,600 illegal immigrants who were captured in the first week of December.
According to the posts on X and Facebook, “Douglas Station Field Training Unit tracked 3 migrants west of Douglas, AZ. As agents approached, 1 migrant ran, leaving behind a Guatemalan woman and her 5-year-old child. With the assistance of a USBP #K9, agents were able to apprehend the 17-year-old Mexican national.”
The 17-year-old Mexican national who fled was pictured in the post wearing carpet-like slips over his shoes designed to disguise his tracks, as well as desert camouflage leading to speculation that he may have been guiding the Guatemalan woman and child.
The apprehensions represented the third major interception in a matter of three days. Modlin’s office also posted imagery from the capture of five illegal immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico near SR-90 on December 1.
Another five illegal immigrants were arrested on Dec. 1st after the driver of the vehicle they were being smuggled in failed to yield on SR-85. Modlin’s office noted that “the occupants attempted to abscond into the desert but were quickly apprehended.”
In a post to X on Dec. 9, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens shared footage of a dramatic helicopter rescue from the Arizona desert explaining, “USBP agents in Tucson Sector, with local sheriff’s air support, rescued an injured migrant in Arizona’s rugged mountains. BORSTAR agents provided critical medical care before airlifting the individual to safety. This highlights the harsh journey migrants face and the heroic efforts of our agents.”
In reviewing the week, as of December 6th, Modlin reported his sector had made 1,600 apprehensions, leading to 171 federal criminal cases. They also seized 19 lbs. of methamphetamine, 9 lbs. of cocaine, 6.7 lbs. of Heroin, and $2,032. They stopped 18 human smuggling events and 7 Narcotics Events. And they made six rescues.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Nov 13, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
A series of polls released over the past year have shown that public support for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants represents a majority-driven mandate from the American people which cuts across racial, political, and economic lines. Congressional leaders from Arizona have emerged as the most fervent voices reflecting the widely accepted viewpoint.
As noted by Cronkite News, President-Elect Donald J. Trump drew direct attention to this in remarks he made announcing his victory when he touted “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”
“They’re coming by the thousands,” Trump warned in a video posted on Truth Social. “We will secure our borders. And we will restore sovereignty.”
A Scripps News/Ipsos survey presented findings that approximately 54% of the American public, including 25% of Democrats, an overwhelming 86% of Republicans, and even a strong majority of 58% of Independents agreed that they “strongly,” or “somewhat” support “Deporting those who are in the country illegally.”
Similarly, an Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll released in April found conclusively that 51% of the American public, with 42% of Democrats, 68% of Republicans, and even a 45% share of Latinos and 40% of Black Americans polled found they “support mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.”
Finally, a Fox News Poll, by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research released in mid-October in the final weeks of the election cycle made it quite clear that “Since 2015, support for deporting those living in the U.S. illegally is up across the board, but most notably among nonwhite voters (+24 points favor), Republicans (+21 points), rural voters (+20), urban voters (+19), and men (+16). Democrats are also more likely to favor this now but by a smaller 8-point margin.” The increase over time in acceptance of mass deportation has been profound.
Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ) has consistently criticized the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration and frequently sparred with Secretary of the Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In April, Crane was reported by Forbes as scorching Mayorkas.
Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) shared a video of Trump explaining his mass deportation policy in a post to X in March 2023 with the caption: “We need mass deportations and NO AMNESTY.”
Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) posted likewise in January 2023 writing, “All illegal aliens must be deported. Period.”
Trump’s selection of former acting director of ICE, Tom Homan, as “border czar,” has further energized the conversation around the mass deportation plan Trump promised during his campaign.
The morale of Border Patrol agents has also improved significantly according to reports. National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News in an interview that the agency’s morale is “through the roof,” adding, “We’ve received hundreds of calls, texts, emails, just saying how happy the agents are.”
“There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. And now those same agents are saying they’re going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again, because they know exactly how it was during this first administration, and they know this one’s going to be even better,” he said.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
by Matthew Holloway | Oct 26, 2024 | News
By Matthew Holloway |
Reporting released last week could redefine the border issue for Republicans and worsen already negative views of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of border security. An internal memo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) obtained by NBC News revealed that 30% of the multi-billion dollar border surveillance system is non-functional.
“Nearly one-third of the cameras in the Border Patrol’s primary surveillance system along the southern U.S. border are not working, according to an internal agency memo sent in early October,” NBC News reported.
“The large-scale outage affects roughly 150 of the 500 cameras perched on surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border.” According to the outlet “severe technical problems,” have beset the networked camera system known as the Remote Video Surveillance System. Border Patrol officials who spoke anonymously cast the blame on outdated equipment and outstanding repair issues.
The system has been in operation since 2011 and was designed to “survey large areas without having to commit hundreds of agents in vehicles to perform the same function.” Two CBP officials told NBC that while some repairs were affected in early October, more than 150 repair orders are still outstanding and some areas of the border are still not visible to CBP surveillance as a result.
A CBP spokesman told the outlet that 300 new towers using more advanced technology have been installed along the border, but didn’t address the gaps described by the anonymous officials.
“CBP continues to install newer, more advanced technology that embrace artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions,” the CBP spokesman said.
As reported by Reason, spiraling costs began with a $1 billion outlay in 2010 that notably led to a 2017 GAO report filled with damning internal and external assessments “regarding the performance, cost, and schedule for implementing the systems,” that resulted in the cancellation of future installations of the SBInet systems.
In a similar accounting, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), addressing NBC News’ findings wrote, “U.S. Border Surveillance Towers Have Always Been Broken.”
EFF Director of Investigations Dave Maass wrote that the report is not a bombshell, but said, “What should actually be shocking is that Congressional leaders are acting shocked, like those who recently sent a letter about the towers to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. These revelations simply reiterate what people who have been watching border technology have known for decades: Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico border is a wasteful endeavor that is ill-equipped to respond to an ill-defined problem.”
Maas referred to a 2021 study from the DHS Inspector General which indicated that the situation had not improved.
“CBP faced additional challenges that reduced the effectiveness of its existing technology. Border Patrol officials stated they had inadequate personnel to fully leverage surveillance technology or maintain current information technology systems and infrastructure on site. Further, we identified security vulnerabilities on some CBP servers and workstations not in compliance due to disagreement about the timeline for implementing DHS configuration management requirements.
CBP is not well-equipped to assess its technology effectiveness to respond to these deficiencies. CBP has been aware of this challenge since at least 2017 but lacks a standard process and accurate data to overcome it.
Overall, these deficiencies have limited CBP’s ability to detect and prevent the illegal entry of noncitizens who may pose threats to national security.”
A set of follow-up plans, the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan and the Southwest Border Technology Plan, then came into effect priced at approximately $6 billion and were successfully combined into the Integrated Surveillance Towers network in 2022. But the integration of these systems has evidently had little effect. With Maas noting, “Border authorities and their supporters in Congress are continuing to promote unproven, AI-driven technologies as the latest remedy for years of failures, including the ones voiced in the memo obtained by NBC News.”
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
