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US arrests migrants in medical aid camp
Associated Press

PHOENIX — Border Patrol agents descended on a medical camp set up in the Arizona desert to provide refuge and water for migrants in the scorching summer heat, arresting four migrants who were receiving aid after spending several days in the desert.

The Border Patrol said agents began tracking the men Tuesday as they walked north on a known smuggling route before they entered the camp run by No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes, an organization that provides care for migrants along the border.

Border Patrol officials initially said they began tracking the group Wednesday but later corrected.

The agency said talks between agents and camp representatives on gaining access to question the men about their citizenship and legal status were unsuccessful. Agents then obtained a search warrant and swooped into the camp on Thursday evening.

Catherine Gaffney, a longtime volunteer who was present during the arrests, said agents were stationed outside the medical facility since Tuesday afternoon, when the migrants arrived at the camp.

She said a camp doctor asked the agency Thursday morning for more time to treat the migrants, who had suffered from heat-related illnesses and needed an additional 24 hours of supervised care.

Gaffney said that 15 trucks and about 30 agents entered the facility.

‘‘It wasn’t part of their day-to-day operation, it was a staged military siege on our camp,’’ Gaffney said.

Associated Press