Midnight at the Border—an Arizona Police Officer’s Encounter With Illegal Migrants After Title 42 Ends
SAN LUIS, Ariz.—A tiny flickering glow from a small flashlight gave away the handful of illegal immigrants creeping along the border fence in Mexico in the darkness around midnight on May 11.
Driving a pickup truck Lt. Marco Santana of the San Luis Police Department in Arizona hit the brakes, shone his spotlight on the fence, and the movement stopped.
“Hello!” Santana shouted in Spanish.
A lone male voice cried back.
“Stay there! We’re coming over,” Santana responded.
At 11:30 p.m., the night was thick and the ground treacherous getting to the group along the border fence near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry in San Luis.
Both sides of the 30-foot-high steel border wall stretched for miles, flanked by a dirt right of way used by Border Patrol to monitor activity along the barrier.
Just minutes before encountering the migrants, CPB officials had briefed Santana on the situation in the run-up to the expiration of Title 42.
The Trump-era law has been in place since 2020 to protect against the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases through illegal immigration.
On May 11, the Biden administration declared the law was over as thousands of illegal migrants from Central and South America made their way to the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
Drug Cartels Intervene
“We can have an influx of people that could rush into the [San Luis] facility. Our main focus is the protection and security of our community. We’re going to be self-conscious about that,” Santana said.
With CBP agents prepared for the worst, only a trickle of illegal migrants had made it to the port of entry on May 11, with nearly a dozen requesting processing by Border Patrol.
Santana said CBP informed him about 70 had been released into the country by the next day.
On the other side of the border fence, another drama was playing out in San Luis, Mexico.
In his briefing, Santana said Mexican drug cartels had intercepted 1,000 migrants before reaching the border fence.
The cartels took their money and held the migrants at various “stash houses” in San Luis.
“This is legitimate information given to people here,” Santana said.
Santana said the cartels engage in human smuggling and shakedowns of illegal migrants in Mexico.
“This is organized crime,” he said. “They release you—and good luck. Without any money.”
Santana described the cartel operation as large-scale kidnapping—a “shake down” of illegal migrants using minivans.
Eventually, they would be released into the United States once the cartels had made new arrangements for profit, which could include drug running.
‘Shake-Down’ Operation
“They’re taking them, and what they do is collect their money. Eventually, they do pay up and come over here,” Santana said.
In the event of a mad dash across the border at the San Luis port of entry, CBP would shut it if things got out of hand, Santana said.
He added that local law enforcement would act accordingly to protect the community from criminal migrant elements.
“If these people come in peacefully, [we] keep telling them to go north. There’s nothing for them here. We don’t have the resources to take care of them to help them. I’m sure they’ve traveled thousands of miles. What’s another 24 miles north?” Santana said.
The small group of illegal migrants Santana encountered on May 11 included three adult men, a woman, and two girls, from two families. One was from Lima, Peru, the other from Columbia.
In Spanish, the woman told Santana the group was on their way to Atlanta, Georgia, and when they arrived, they hoped to stay with her brother, find jobs, and enroll the girls in public schools.
The group’s spokesman, Juan, said the two managed to elude the Mexican cartels after leaving behind violent crime, political corruption and lives that became untenable in their home countries.
“We slept on the ground and have not eaten in days,” Paul told Santana.
“There is so much corruption and no way of life where we come from anymore—too many deaths. We couldn’t even get work. We were being extorted by the mafia.”
Juan said the group plans to connect with Border Patrol agents for processing and procure rides to Atlanta.
In Texas, state National Guard members assist Border Patrol at ports of entry, encountering thousands of illegal migrants attempting to cross the border.
On May 11, the last day of Title 42, the Arizona House of Representatives Republican Majority Caucus issued a statement accusing the Biden administration of neglecting to protect American citizens by allowing the mass influx of illegal immigration.
‘Disturbing’ Neglect of Border
“It’s deeply disturbing that any sitting president would endanger border states and neglect to protect American citizens from being overrun by the dangerous repercussions of an open and unsecured border,” the Caucus wrote.
“Yet that is precisely what President Biden and his administration have done since taking office.”
“With the president’s reckless decision to abandon Title 42—an effective legal policy enabling the United States to turn back illegal immigrants, including those making asylum claims—border states like ours are bracing for a massive wave of additional illegal immigration and criminal activity that will exacerbate the current crisis beyond the breaking point.”
The letter said law enforcement agencies are spread thin by the “endless flood of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and dangerous narcotics.”
Yuma Regional Medical Center, for example, faces paying a $26 million uncompensated bill for treating illegal migrants, many of whom suffer from life-threatening conditions, according to hospital officials.
“Health care providers are strained, especially in border communities like Yuma where it is a constant struggle to deliver essential services to residents in need of care,” according to the Republican caucus letter.
In 2021, Arizona House Republicans under former Gov. Doug Ducey passed a $500 million Border Security Fund to prevent human trafficking and illegal entry into the country, boost infrastructure, and local prosecution of illegals.
The fund earmarked $209 million for these efforts, leaving around $240 million to “counteract the federal government’s negligence on the border and the harm it has in our communities,” the letter added.
“With each passing day, illegal immigration grows, more deadly fentanyl pours through our borders, more young girls are pushed into border-related sex trafficking, and law enforcement officers are killed in the line of duty— all because leaders of our federal government refuse to protect the nation.
“We demand that change now. The border must be made safe and secure,” the Republican Caucus wrote.
In San Luis, population 37,333, and one of Arizona’s six busy ports of entry, illegal crossings and requests for asylum occur daily.
Around noon on May 11, an unmarked white bus drove along the right of way in a cloud of dust, returning minutes later, presumably carrying a busload of asylum seekers led by an unmarked pickup truck.
“It’s unpredictable,” Santana said of the daily arrivals, even with the efforts of Border Patrol to control it.
On May 11, a lone Border Patrol agent sat in a parked truck outside the border fence in San Luis near midnight.
“How are you doing? All good? Is it quiet?” Santana said.
Dangerous Situation
“Yeah. Luckily,” the agent responded. “It’s just me on the levy and the other agent.
“For some reason, we don’t have the National Guard helping us out right now. Normally, they’re helping.”
Santana said local police units assist Border Patrol through “Stone Garden,” an operation detail, with two teams working the evening shift on May 11.
San Luis, Mexico, is “very dangerous,” Santana said. “They [cartel members] kill people every day. Right now, there’s a turf war going on for years.”
“Our city and Nogales are the two most active in Arizona. This place is crazy in San Luis [Mexico]—they’re killing people left and right. Police officers, too. It’s not uncommon. It’s a mess down there.”
At a local restaurant in San Luis earlier in the day, customers Mike and Sue were having an animated discussion about illegal immigration.
“I see the busing them down in Nogales. There are busloads every day. All over,” said Mike, owner of a producer truck delivery company in Yakima, Washington.
“Texas is terrible.”
“They could stop it tomorrow if they wanted to. I’m in business for myself. All these [migrants] are killing our industry.”
What’s the answer?
“Finish the wall,” Mike said.
“Finish the wall,” Sue echoed.
