Video that surfaced this week showing New Mexico militia group The United Constitutional Patriots detaining hundreds of illegal immigrants has drawn the ire of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday lashed out at members of a militia group who are stopping migrants at the border, declaring “regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has demanded that Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas investigate the militia organization, United Constitutional Patriots. Some of the group’s members are armed.
“That migrant families might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border — often times after an unimaginably arduous journey — is completely unacceptable,” Lujan Grisham said in an email to NBC News.
“It should go without saying that regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone,” she said. “My office and our state police are coordinating with the Attorney General’s Office and local police to determine what has gone on and what can be done.”
Balderas warned in a statement that “these individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement,” he said.
With all the hoopla surrounding the actions of the militia, how does Border Patrol feel about the groups patroling border and detaining migrants? Cheney commented:
The United Constitutional Patriots have had a sporadic presence at the border for about two years, a sight welcomed by the local sheriff and Border Patrol officers, he said.
“If the Border Patrol says, ‘We don’t need you,’ we’ll leave,” he said.
US Customs and Border Protection officials said in a statement the agency did not “endorse or condone private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands.”
But Cheney said their interaction with agents at the border was far from adversarial. Militia members, he said, speak with agents “on an hourly basis,” coordinating operations.
“They’re happy we’re here,” he said about Border Patrol. “We have a direct line to the local outpost.”
Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the United Constitutional Patriots, also commented:
“If these people follow our verbal commands, we hold them until Border Patrol comes,” Mr. Benvie said. “Border Patrol has never asked us to stand down.”
Many members in militia groups are current and former military, police, and first responders. It should go without saying that Border Patrol could only be happy to have the support of their brethren in the militia.
Sources: NBC, Buzzfeed
Image: The Free Telegraph
