Thread: Militia in New Mexico Detains Asylum Seekers at Gunpoint

It’s in the constitution
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Such language has created considerable debate regarding the Amendment's intended scope.
We are not only a free state but a free country
We have every right to defend our own borders we don’t need your permission, and our constitution supersedes your asylum laws for immigrants who are not citizens and have no constitutional rights on American soil.



nytimes.com

Militia in New Mexico Detains Asylum Seekers at Gunpoint

A citizens militia known as the United Constitutional Patriots has begun…

By Simon Romero
April 18, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE — A right-wing militia group operating in southern New Mexico has begun stopping groups of migrant families and detaining them at gunpoint before handing them over to Border Patrol agents, raising tension over the tactics of armed vigilantes along the border between the United States and Mexico.
Members of the group, which calls itself the United Constitutional Patriots, filmed several of their actions in recent days, including the detention this week of a group of about 200 migrants who had recently crossed the border near Sunland Park, N.M., with the intention of seeking asylum. They uploaded videos to social media of exhausted looking migrant families, blinking in the darkness in the glare of what appeared to be the militia’s spotlights.
Professed militias have long operated along the border with attempts to curb the flow of undocumented migrants into the United States. But targeting the recent influx of families, who are legally allowed to request asylum and often quickly surrender to Border Patrol agents, is raising tension with human rights activists in this part of the West.
The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the militia’s actions in a letter on Thursday that asked New Mexico’s governor and attorney general to investigate the group. The A.C.L.U. said the militia had no legal authority under New Mexico or federal law to detain or arrest migrants in the United States.
“We cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum,” two lawyers for the A.C.L.U., María Martínez Sánchez and Kirsten Greer Love, said in the letter.
In a statement, Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general, said: “These individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement.”
United Constitutional Patriots New Mexico Border Ops more still flooding inCreditCreditVideo by True Conservatives Minutes [TCM]Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the United Constitutional Patriots, said in a telephone interview that his group had been camped near El Paso for the past two months. Mr. Benvie contended that his group’s actions were legal, comparing the detention of the migrants to “a verbal citizen’s arrest.”
“We’re just here to support the Border Patrol and show the public the reality of the border,” said Mr. Benvie, 43, who recently came to New Mexico from Minnesota. He said the organization plans to remain on the border until the extended wall proposed by President Trump is built or Congress changes immigration laws to make it harder for migrants to request asylum.
Militias have recently stepped up their activities in New Mexico and other states as the authorities scramble to respond to a surge in families from Central America, with total apprehensions on the border reaching more than 92,000 in March. Elsewhere on the border, the mayor of Yuma, Ariz., declared an emergency this week as the city sought federal and state assistance to deal with migrant arrivals.
Mr. Benvie, the spokesman for the United Constitutional Patriots, declined to specify how many of its members were in Sunland Park, a city in New Mexico about nine miles west of El Paso. He said the group included people with military or law enforcement experience.
“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.”
The governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said in a statement that it was “completely unacceptable” that migrant families “might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border.”
“It should go without saying that regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone,” she added.
The video of this week's episode in the New Mexico desert shows Border Patrol agents arriving on the scene at some point after members of the militia have already come into contact with the migrants. Before the arrival of the federal agents, a woman narrating the video tells a man who appears to be a militia member “Don't aim the gun” in the direction of the families. The migrants can be seen kneeling on the ground and embracing one another.
Mr. Benvie said that members of the militia gave a “verbal order of arrest” to the migrants, telling them to wait where they were until Border Patrol agents arrived. Members of his group offered $20 to any of the migrants who could identify the smuggler who helped them cross the border, he said, but none took them up on the offer.
Mr. Benvie said that members of his group were told not to point their weapons at any of the migrants. He added that the group has a new rule in which members are not allowed to go on patrol with military-style rifles, but can still carry handguns. “We can't make them stay if they don't want to,” he said.
Carlos A. Diaz, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that includes the Border Patrol, declined to discuss the episode or the United Constitutional Patriots, but said the agency “does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands.”
The responses to the militia’s videos on Facebook included an array of antagonistic or racist descriptions of the asylum seekers.
“Got to stop being sympathetic because of the kids,” said one commentator, Linda Ellen Sweeney. “Got to consider them as collateral damage now. We are DONE.”
Ursela Ojeda, a policy adviser in Washington for the Women’s Refugee Commission, an organization seeking to protect the rights of women and children displaced by conflict and crisis, called the actions of the militia “highly problematic.”
“These are families, and lots of young children, fleeing dangerous situations,” Ms. Ojeda said. “I have a hard time seeing how someone has a right to point a loaded weapon at these families.”

Members of the United Constitutional Patriots patrolling the border in Sunland Park, N.M., last month.Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/u...Uh_xHtTBMzpBbg

I would like to see ONE MILLION Americans get down there and help them.

Call for buses to bus them back home!

They are all coached LIARS and have no rights to come here.

Shut down the refugee, asylum, TPS and illegal aliens programs...full of fraud and it is destroying our country and costing us billions!

Armed Militia Rounding Up Migrants At Southern Border



"Border Patrol has never asked us to stand down."

Fri, 04/19/2019 - 13:10
42 SHARES

A New Mexico militia operating along the border with Mexico has been stopping groups of migrants who have illegally entered the country, holding them at gunpoint, and then handing them over to Border Patrol agents, according to the New York Times.

Facebook

Known as The United Constitutional Patriots, the group has long operated along the southern US border, attempting to stem the flood of undocumented migrants entering the country. According to KVIA, the group rounded up more than 350 people this week who had crossed the border in West El Paso, Texas - one town over from Sunland Park, New Mexico. The US Border Patrol has not confirmed the exact number.
In YouTube videos uploaded on Tuesday and Wednesday, groups of migrants - many of them coughing - can be seen sitting on the ground until Border Patrol officers arrive on scene.



Youtube Video https://youtu.be/4XtpJoIq67E

A message posted on the United Constitutional Patriots' page after the migrants were detained Monday night stated: "This group was so huge we won't have an accurate count until the BP is finished processing them. This needs to stop!!!!! Build the wall."
The video shows Border Patrol agents as they apprehend members of the group of migrants that crossed into the U.S. Some of the migrants seen in the video are overheard coughing and asking for water. When asked why they entered the US, some of the migrants said they are seeking asylum. -KVIA

Youtube Video https://youtu.be/fwwm98EjD98

"This country was built on three things: God, guns and guts. That American flag has to keep flying," UCP Commander John Horton told KVIA, adding "It's in danger, a lot of danger right now."
According to the Times, the militia's operations have predictably upset rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - which denounced the group in a Thursday letter asking New Mexico's governor and attorney general to investigate the group. The militia has no legal authority under New Mexico or federal law to detain or arrest migrants who have entered the United States, according to the letter.
"We cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum," said ACLU lawyers María Martínez Sánchez and Kirsten Greer Love in the letter.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said in a statement "These individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement."
UCP spokesman Jim Benvie disagrees - telling the Times over the phone that his group had been camped near El Paso for the past two months, and compared the militia's actions to "a verbal citizen's arrest."



Facebook

"We’re just here to support the Border Patrol and show the public the reality of the border," said the 43-year-old Benvie, who recently moved to New Mexico from Minnesota. He added that the organization plans to remain on the border until President Trump's proposed border wall is built, or Congress changes immigration laws so that it's harder for migrants to request asylum.

Militias have recently stepped up their activities in New Mexico and other states as the authorities scramble to respond to a surge in families from Central America, with total apprehensions on the border reaching more than 92,000 in March. Elsewhere on the border, the mayor of Yuma, Ariz., declared an emergency this week as the city sought federal and state assistance to deal with migrant arrivals.
Mr. Benvie, the spokesman for the United Constitutional Patriots, declined to specify how many of its members were in Sunland Park, a city in New Mexico about nine miles west of El Paso. He said the group included people with military or law enforcement experience. -New York Times

"If these people follow our verbal commands, we hold them until Border Patrol comes," said Benvie, who added "Border Patrol has never asked us to stand down."



Facebook

Benvie said that this week's stop of hundreds of migrants was conducted after the militia gave a "verbal order of arrest" to the border crossers - telling them to wait until Border Patrol agents could arrive. UCP offered migrants $20 to identify the smuggler who helped them cross the border, however nobody took them up on their offer.

Mr. Benvie said that members of his group were told not to point their weapons at any of the migrants. He added that the group has a new rule in which members are not allowed to go on patrol with military-style rifles, but can still carry handguns. “We can't make them stay if they don't want to,” he said. -New York Times

New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that it was "completely unacceptable" that migrants "might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border."
"It should go without saying that regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone," she added.
CBP spokesman Carlos A. Diaz told The Times that the agency "does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands."

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...outhern-border

Armed Mexican troops question American soldiers on US side of border

News 3 hours ago

Patriot Militia Takes Border Security into Their Own Hands


Published 3 hours ago on Apr 19, 2019
By Jose Nino


The United Constitutional Patriots, a New Mexico militia, has taken border security measures into their own hands.
According to the New York Times, this militia group stopped migrants who illegally entered the country and turned them over to Border Patrol agents.
The UCP has operated along the southern border for some time in efforts to contain the flood of illegal immigrants crossing the border.
This week alone, KVIA reports that the group caught 350 migrants who crossed the border in West El Paso, Texas.
UCP Commander John Horton told KVIA that “This country was built on three things: God, guns and guts. That American flag has to keep flying.”
Horton added, “It’s in danger, a lot of danger right now.”
Naturally, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the group in a letter sent out to the New Mexico Governor and and Attorney General’s office requesting for an investigation of the militia group.
In the ACLU’s view, the group has no legal authority to detain or arrest migrants under New Mexico or federal law.
ACLU lawyers María Martínez Sánchez and Kirsten Greer Love instantly played the race card saying that “We cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum.”
This par for the course for the ACLU, who recently warned immigrants and people of color about traveling to Florida because of its allegedly “racist” immigration laws.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas commented on the UCP’s activities, stating that “These individuals should not attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement.”
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham echoed Balderas’s sentiments saying that it was “completely unacceptable” that migrants “might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border.”
The governor added,”It should go without saying that regular citizens have no authority to arrest or detain anyone.”
ZeroHedge reports that Jim Benvie, the spokesman for the UPC, fired back against these claims. Benvie told the Times over the phone that the militia’s actions were comparable to a “verbal citizen’s arrest.”
Benvie said, “We’re just here to support the Border Patrol and show the public the reality of the border.”
The militia spokesman added that the UCP “plans to remain on the border until President Trump’s proposed border wall is built, or Congress changes immigration laws so that it’s harder for migrants to request asylum.”
Although Trump has been able to secure $1 billion in wall funding, his hands have been tied because of a divided Congress.
So there’s very little chance that other meaningful immigrations reforms will be passed until after 2020.
In the meantime, groups like the UCP will likely continue their activities in the absence of a serious government plan to stem the flow of mass migration.
Mass migration in the West is putting tremendous social pressure on countries. Nationalist movements have sprouted all over in response to the unprecedented flow of migrants entering European countries and America.
Immigration looks to be a major issue in the 2020 elections, with GOP voters declaring that it’s their #1 issue.

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/patrio...eir-own-hands/

"They Killed Us": Crowdfunding Sites Have Cut Off An Armed Militia Detaining Migrants

I hope more Patriots are able to get down there and start sending them back to Mexico!

Our government has FAILED to secure our border and protect us against this invasion of foreign citizens who are armed with contagious diseases!

Have buses ready that are labeled "San Diego" in Spanish...then drive them right BACK to Tijuana!

FBI arrests member of rightwing militia accused of detaining migrants

FBI arrests leader of armed group stopping migrants in New Mexico

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1RW0O5

The arrest is on gun charges. Hard to believe this guy could be a felon running around with assault rifles in a public manner like this? They obviously arrested him on a technicality but he should have been aware of his skelatons in his closet that they could try to get him on for political purposes?