Vigilante group detains hundreds of migrants at gunpoint

Private citizens hold asylum seekers along the New Mexico border until Border Patrol arrives; Jonathan Hunt reports from Los Angeles.

After government inaction, man becomes vigilante border enforcer
NTDTV
Published on Feb 26, 2019

Robert (Bob) Maupin, a 79-year-old retired mechanic and self-proclaimed vigilante, has spent decades and thousands of dollars protecting the U.S.-Mexico border from his own backyard. He built his own fence along the border just footsteps north of the U.S. government fence because he said the existing fence was inadequate.

Maupin lives in Boulevard in east San Diego County—one of the most rugged, remote, and desolate terrains in the San Diego border patrol sector. He inherited the 250-acre ranch from his father who purchased it in 1948. He moved here with his wife and high school sweetheart, Jeanette, and together, they raised their two children.

The southern edge of his ranch touches the border with Mexico. For more than 30 years, Maupin has been protecting his property with a 20-pound rifle and a 50-pound bulletproof vest from what he calls the “hordes of people invading [his] country.”

“I want [the U.S. government] to build a wall—all the way across—and that way I can have some peace and quiet.”

Maupin’s property currently has two fences: his own and just 60 feet south of it—the one belonging to the U.S. government. It took him five years and has cost more than $25,000 to build and repair his fence.

The government fence is made of steel landing mats, some of which are still left over in a pile on Maupin’s property today. It’s about 10 feet tall and was put up horizontally, allowing the groves on its sides to be used as steps to climb and hop over.

“Had the mat been installed vertically it would have been much harder to get over,” Maupin told The Epoch Times.

Armed citizens patrol the Arizona-Mexico border
PBS NewsHour
Published on Feb 4, 2017

President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border as the first step to fulfill a campaign promise. Saying the U.S. government has failed to secure it, a group of armed citizens are patrolling a nearly 400-mile stretch of desert land that separates Arizona from Mexico. NewsHour Special Correspondent Nick Schifrin reports.

Aprim 20, 2019
Mexico warns of 'deep concern' over armed groups on U.S. border
2 MIN READ


MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico said on Saturday it had “deep concern” about armed groups that intimidate and extort migrants on the border, shortly after the ACLU and Democratic senators called for a probe into such citizen efforts to block migrants from crossing.

“These types of practices can drive human rights abuses of people who migrate or request asylum or refuge in the United States,” Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement, referring to “militia groups” in New Mexico.

It added that patrols “on the margins” of the law create risks for the safety of migrants.

On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico condemned the United Constitutional Patriots, which patrols the southern U.S. border in New Mexico, as a “fascist militia organization” operating outside the law.

The group has posted videos showing members dressed in camouflage and armed with semi-automatic rifles holding groups of migrants, many Central American families seeking asylum, until U.S. Border Patrol agents arrive.

The small volunteer group says it is helping the Border Patrol deal with a surge in undocumented migrants at the southern border. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has toughened various policies and put pressure on Mexico in an attempt to discourage people from attempting to cross into the United States illegally.

Along with the ACLU, New Mexico Democratic senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall also called for an investigation into the border group.

“Threatening innocent children and families fleeing violence and seeking asylum is unacceptable and flies in the face of our values as a state and a nation,” they said in a joint statement on Twitter on Friday.

APRIL 20, 2019 / 4:47 PM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
FBI arrests leader of U.S. 'patriots' stopping migrants at border
Andrew Hay
3 MIN READ

TAOS, N.M. (Reuters) - The FBI on Saturday said it had arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of an armed group who have been stopping migrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico.

Hopkins, 69, also known as Johnny Horton, was arrested in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on a federal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

Hopkins represents himself as commander of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), a small volunteer group camped out near Sunland Park since late February.

The UCP describes itself as a “patriot group” helping over-stretched U.S. Border Patrol agents deal with a surge in undocumented migrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday accused it of being a “fascist militia organization” illegally detaining and kidnapping asylum seekers.

Jim Benvie, a spokesman for the UCP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general, described Hopkins as “a dangerous felon who should not have weapons around children and families.”

“Today’s arrest by the FBI indicates clearly that the rule of law should be in the hands of trained law enforcement officials, not armed vigilantes,” Balderas said in a statement.

Horton was previously arrested in Oregon in 2006 on suspicion of impersonating a police officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Mexico’s government on Saturday said it had “deep concern” about armed groups that intimidate migrants.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it did not support citizens taking law enforcement into their own hands but encouraged the public to be its eyes and ears on the border.

“Border Patrol welcomes assistance from the community and encourages anyone who witnesses or suspects illegal activity to call 911, or the U.S. Border Patrol,” CBP said in a statement.

One UCP member, who declined to be named, said the group are U.S. military veterans who carried weapons for self defense but that they never pointed guns at migrants, as has been reported.

“People misconceive what we are doing,” the UCP member said. “All we’re down there to do is back up Border Patrol. They’re so thinned out with all these people coming in.”