SUNLAND PARK (United States), April 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – In the southeastern most pocket of the US state of New Mexico, with El Paso, Texas, to the east and Mexico a stone’s throw south, there is a small camp: a few tents and a weathered trailer.
It is home to the half dozen or so members of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) — a small but well-armed American militia dipping their toes into the US border vigilante movement.
In recent months, thousands of migrants have arrived in Mexico, primarily Central Americans fleeing poverty and violence at home.
US President Donald Trump has described them as a threat to national security, demanding billions of dollars from Congress to build a wall on the southern border.
The resignation of Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Sunday, reportedly over the president’s push to restart family separations at the border, has underscored his failure to get to grips with the issue.
And until the wall is built, the UCP insist they will be there.
“We’re here to assist the border patrol because they are so short handed,” the group’s leader, 70-year-old “Striker,” said.
“We have a good work rapport with them,” he said. “Our goal was to be here until we’re not needed. And when we’re not needed is when that wall is up.”
Based out of Flora Vista, New Mexico, the group — made up mostly of older veterans — enjoys an enthusiastic social media following. Striker can be heard fielding calls during lengthy radio broadcasts streamed online several times a week.
Out in the field — with tactical gear, rifles and even custom patches — the UCP say their duties include watching the border, standing guard over people who want to hand themselves in to border patrol and pursuing those who don’t.
In a statement, the US Border Patrol said it “does not endorse private groups or organizations taking enforcement matters into their own hands.”
The border vigilante movement is well-established, with the Southern Poverty Law Center documenting “questionable apprehensions of migrants by private citizens” from as far back as 1999. — NNN-AGENCIES
