Trump’s army: More than 300 asylum seekers surrender to armed militia made up of New Mexico residents, made up of veterans and ex-cops, after crossing the US border
- Three hundred asylum seekers surrendered to ‘United Constitutional Patriots’
- The armed militia group is made up of ex-cops and veterans patrolling borders
- Jim Benvie recorded the group trying to enter the U.S. and streamed it online
- The group handed themselves in and Border Patrol arrived to process them
- Benvie has documented the armed militia’s encounters with asylum seekers for the past two months – Border Patrol said it does not condone the group’s actions
Hundreds of asylum seekers surrendered to an armed militia of New Mexico citizens last night, after trying to cross the U.S. border.
A group of 300 men, women and children gave themselves up to the ‘United Constitutional Patriots’, a gang of vigilantes made up veterans and former police officers who then handed them over to border officials.
Video recorded by one of the militia, Jim Benvie, who has been camping out on the New Mexico-Chihuahua border for two months, shows the asylum seekers walking on a dirt road having crossed through a fence gap in Sundland Park, New Mexico.
A group of 300 men, women and children gave themselves up to the ‘United Constitutional Patriots’, a gang of vigilantes made up veterans and former police officers who then handed them over to border officials
Graphic shows the number of attempted border crossings, according to NPR statistics
The video, which was streamed live on Facebook, shows the asylum seekers giving themselves up to the militia, intending to turn themselves over to Border Patrol.
‘I literally walked out and I looked, and all I saw was hundreds of people coming at us,’ said Benvie.
Benvie and three other men had been scouting the area Monday night before coming across what the U.S. Border Patrol estimated was 300 migrants.
‘We held them there until Border Patrol came,’ said Benvie.
Benvie and three other men had been scouting the area Monday night before coming across what the U.S. Border Patrol estimated was 300 migrants
‘And once they came then we did what we do, and that’s to help Border Patrol get them to the processing van. So, everybody is safe.’
Benvie has documented the armed militia’s encounters with asylum seekers for the past two months.
‘We’re just Americans. We’re veterans, we’re ex-law enforcement, we’re people that care about our national security,’ he said.
‘We’re people that care about our strained Border Patrol.’
Border Patrol said it does not condone the group’s actions