‘An armed fascist militia organization’: ACLU calls for investigation of far-right 'vigilantes' who 'kidnap' immigrants at the border

The New Mexico American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is describing a far-right group as “armed fascist militia organization,"  that, according to the Guardian, detained a group of migrants at the U.S./Mexico border and coordinated with U.S. Border Patrol agents to have them arrested.

The Guardian is reporting that several videos appear to show a group called the United Constitutional Patriots approaching a group of migrants at the border, ordering them to sit on the ground and calling federal agents.

On Thursday, in a letter to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, the New Mexico ACLU described the group as being comprised of “vigilantes” who “kidnap and detain people seeking asylum”—and lack the authority to act as law enforcement agents. The ACLU’s letter demands an investigation of the group’s “atrocious and unlawful conduct” and is highly critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, asserting that his “administration’s vile racism has emboldened white nationalists and fascists to flagrantly violate the law.”

The United Constitutional Patriots have been posting, on Facebook, videos of their activities in New Mexico near the border. BuzzFeed reported that in a recent video, a U.S. Border Patrol official can be seen leaving five migrant women and five children in the custody of the group and saying that another Border Patrol agent was on the way.