The ACLU of New Mexico on Thursday demanded an investigation into “an armed fascist militia organization” that has reportedly been illegally detaining migrants at gunpoint at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“This has no place in our state: we cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum.”
—ACLU of New Mexico
“The Trump administration’s vile racism has emboldened white nationalists and fascists to flagrantly violate the law,” the group wrote in a letter to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Attorney General Hector Balderas.
“This has no place in our state: we cannot allow racist and armed vigilantes to kidnap and detain people seeking asylum,” the letter continues. “We urge you to immediately investigate this atrocious and unlawful conduct.”
The ACLU cited videos and photographs posted to social media that appear to show the right-wing militia group, the United Constitutional Patriots, detaining dozens of migrants.
Watch:
“Two nights ago, on April 16, 2019, an armed fascist militia organization describing itself as the United Constitutional Patriots arrested nearly three hundred people seeking safety in the United States, including young children, near Sunland Park, New Mexico,” the ACLU said in its letter.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT