Eleven Iranians Caught Sneaking Into The U.S. Through New Arizona Route

Earlier this week U.S. Border Patrol agents were able to arrest 11 Iranian citizens after they were caught crossing the United States-Mexico border in Arizona.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents detected the group near San Luis around 6 p.m. that evening, and agents quickly determined the group had illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico. The group was swiftly arrested and taken into custody. The CBP said the group was made up of six males and five females, all citizens of Iran.

The CBP said it is not uncommon for Yuma Sector agents to regularly encounter people from all over the world crossing the border illegally, especially people from “Special Interest Countries.”

Over the past several years, Border Patrol agents at the Yuma Sector have arrested more illegal crossers from Iran than any other Border Patrol sector combined. There have been 14 Iranian nationals apprehended in the Yuma Sector since October.

Increased enforcement efforts in California and Texas over the years have forced migrants into more dangerous terrain in Arizona.

Immigration scholars predict a wave of people from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador will try to cross the border from Mexico into the United States this year due to a pair of disastrous hurricanes in Central America and with a Joe Biden administration after four years of very strict policies under former President Donald Trump.

The president of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Insitute wrote in Americas Quarterly magazine, “Heading north will continue to be seen as an option. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to do things differently, treating migrants and asylum-seekers with dignity.”

Salee also warned that these sudden policy changes could encourage those intending to cross the border to flood north.