A group of El Paso residents and volunteers have formed an ad-hoc “night watch” to monitor U.S. border agents as they arrest migrants sleeping on the city’s streets.
In new video taken by one of those volunteers and obtained by NBC News, migrants sleeping outside a bus station are seen being apprehended by Border Patrol officers on Jan. 4, the week before President Joe Biden arrived in the border city.
In the video, several migrants are escorted off a bus by Border Patrol with their hands above their heads. In another scene filmed that night, a young boy says in Spanish, “Llevaron a todos,” which means, “They took everyone.”
NBC News previously published other video shot the same week that showed arrests outside a migrant shelter run by Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection in El Paso said those arrested had evaded detection when they crossed the border.
“CBP, which is responsible for securing the U.S. border between ports of entry, uses a layered approach that includes patrolling the border itself, nearby areas, and neighborhoods, and conducting checkpoints — both stationary and temporary,” Landon Hutchens said. “In response to migrants evading apprehension in the El Paso area, the United States Border Patrol has increased the number of agents patrolling the area.”
The night watch was formed after CBP began arresting migrants outside Sacred Heart Church on Tuesday, Jan. 3, said one of the volunteers, who wished to remain anonymous. In one video from that night, a mother and children are seen being awoken in their tent.
“We formed a night watch, since the incident with the mother being pulled out. We made sure we document everything that happens. It has a deterrent effect on the police, we think or we hope,” the volunteer said.
