Human trafficker suspect in fake uniform and border control truck arrested at Mexico border
‘The driver and 10 migrants were taken into custody,’ says border authorities
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A man in a fake US Border Patrol uniform and car has been arrested in Arizona for attempting to smuggle migrants into the US, according to authorities.
The man and 10 other people, who are believed to be migrants he was smuggling into the country, were arrested by Homeland Security Investigations and Border Agents in Tucson, near the border with Mexico. It is not known where the migrants were originally coming from.
The car was painted to resemble a vehicle used by the Tucson division of the Border Patrol, according to John R Modlin, the Interim Chief Patrol Agent. The driver was reportedly wearing a fraudulent Border Patrol outfit.
No additional information about the driver or the others was released on 24 August. However, Mr Modlin shared a photograph of the car on his social media page.
He tweeted: “This is not a Border Patrol vehicle. @HSIPhoenix and #BorderPatrol agents from #Tucson Station foiled a smuggling attempt using a cloned vehicle and a fake uniform. The driver and 10 migrants were taken into custody.”
This incident comes after the state’s governor, Doug Ducey, condemned the federal response to US-Mexico border issues. In light of this, he renewed his policy of keeping National Guard officers at the border for an additional year.
“The Biden-Harris administration has utterly failed to secure the border,” he said in a statement about his decision. “It’s clear that this White House has neither the ability nor the desire to address the border disaster — a crisis of their own making.”
The White House is dealing with one of the most serious situations at the border in over 20 years, due to a backlog of immigrants awaiting entry at the US-Mexico border due to Trump policies that Mr Biden has not removed, despite election promises to do so.
Mr Biden’s government is facing a “serious challenge” at the border, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at a press briefing on 13 August. Some 212,672 people were arrested by the US Customs and Border Protection in July, which was up from the previous month, according to CNN.