By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Border Patrol agents have long abided by an informal agreement to allow migrants to seek medical attention at a camp in the Arizona desert to prevent more deaths of people crossing the border.
But that has changed under the Trump administration after 15 trucks and about 30 agents raided the camps and detained four immigrants Thursday, the Associated Press reports.
The crackdown prompted volunteers with the aid group, No More Deaths/No Mas Muertas, to say the “staged military siege” endangered the lives of undocumented immigrants.
‘‘The type of operation they are doing, for me, is unprecedented,’’ said Catherine Gaffney, a longtime volunteer for the group.
Although the group asked Border Patrol for more time to treat immigrants with heart-related illnesses, agents swarmed the camp anyway.
One of those captured had a prior felony conviction for drug possession and had previously been deported.
‘‘They didn’t need 30 agents to apprehend four sick people,’’ Gaffney said.
Border Patrol said the four men were taken to the hospital but were in good condition.
