Masked vigilantes arrest migrants at gunpoint on Mexican border

A RIGHT-WING militia group has begun to detain migrant families at gunpoint on the Us-mexico border.

United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) is posting footage of its activities on social media. A recent Facebook Live video shows masked UCP members detaining about 200 asylum seekers who had crossed the border near Sunland Park, New Mexico. Another video posted this week showed masked UCP members shining torches into the faces of migrant families as they sat on the ground in the darkness.

A woman’s voice was heard saying: “They just keep coming ... we caught the women and children first. There you have it, folks, this is what happens every night in the world on the border.”

She later trained her camera on a man carrying a newborn baby, stating he “looks like he’s about ready to pass out”. The migrants are eventually escorted away by border patrol agents.

The online footage caused outrage among civil rights groups, which argue that the militia group has no legal authority to detain or arrest migrants.

“We cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum,” lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement.

Michelle Lujan Grisham, the US governor for New Mexico, said it was “completely unacceptable” that migrant families “might be menaced or threatened in any way, shape or form when they arrive at our border”.

Hector Balderas, the state’s attorney general, has also cautioned the group not to “attempt to exercise authority reserved for law enforcement”. Under US law, people can request asylum regardless of where or how they enter the US. However, tensions on the border have recently increased, with the number of border arrests hitting 92,000 in March.

Jim Benvie, a spokesman for UCP, insisted that the group’s actions were lawful and akin to a citizen’s arrest, and said that the group intended to stay on the border until Donald Trump’s proposed wall is built or Congress introduced tougher laws for asylum seekers.

“We’re just here to support the Border Patrol and show the public the reality of the border,” he said.

Mr Benvie refused to say how many members the UCP has, but claimed that the organisation included members who had military and law-enforcement experience.