AZMEX UPDATE 20-11-15

AZMEX UPDATE 20 NOV 2015

Note: a little more info. Some doubts if they really are Paks?


5 Pakistanis, 1 Afghani detained near Patagonia
Nogales International Updated 8 hrs ago Comments
Border Patrol Sonoita Station

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/pakistanis-afghani-detained-near-patagonia/article_554c0282-8f1d-11e5-b13a-8b40399cd23e.html

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained five undocumented border-crossers from Pakistan and another from Afghanistan near Patagonia this week.

The individuals were detained Monday along with two smugglers, the Border Patrol said in a statement issued Thursday. Patagonia Marshal Joe Patterson said the arrests occurred in the Rail X Ranch Estates neighborhood just northeast of town, near Milepost 22 on State Route 82.

"As a standard procedure, agents processed the six individuals and checked their identities against numerous law enforcement and national security-related databases," the Border Patrol statement said. "Records checks revealed no derogatory information about the individuals."

Still, their detention is likely to stoke fears that terrorists will try to gain access to the country through its porous southwest border with Mexico, especially coming only days after coordinated attacks carried out by the terrorist group ISIS in Paris killed 129 people.

Detentions of undocumented immigrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan are not especially rare in the United States. In Fiscal Year 2013, federal immigration authorities apprehended 334 Pakistanis and 70 Afghanis, according to the most recent Department of Homeland Security Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Those figures include apprehensions made both by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in the interior of the country, and by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agencies near international boundaries.

While acknowledging that many people are fleeing violence and poverty in that part of the world, Art Del Cueto, president of the union that represents Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents, said there are reasons to be suspicious given the manner in which the men detained near Patagonia entered the country.

"Why not do it legally?" he asked. "If you're doing it right, what's there to hide?"

The six detainees are currently in federal custody and not at the Santa Cruz County jail, which houses some undocumented border-crossers as part of an agreement with the U.S. Marshal. In fact, Sheriff Antonio Estrada said Thursday he had been unaware of the detentions until he began receiving inquiries from the media.

"We checked our system and everything else and we never got a call, we were never involved," he said, adding: "Border Patrol catches a lot of illegals and they don't necessarily report them to us."

Meanwhile in Patagonia, "We're keeping our eyes open," Patterson said.

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