The Department of Interior says it coordinated with several other federal agencies on a border security mission that resulted in apprehensions and federal charges.
Interior oversees federal land agencies including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, or the BLM.
This was a 10-day operation that ended Nov. 9 and was part of the so-called Operation Securing America’s Border Resources — an effort that has BLM rangers and special agents working alongside other law enforcement like Border Patrol.
The agency says officers made 48 apprehensions of people without legal status in the U.S., along with several traffic stops and drug seizures in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, southeast of Phoenix.
Twenty-one people have been referred for federal charges, according to the agency. A spokesperson directed questions about what happened to the other 27 arrested to the Department of Justice.
-
The Utah-based Management & Training Corporation, or MTC, operates several prisons and ICE facilities around the U.S. This Marana site is an old state prison that was run by MTC before Arizona severed that contract and shut it down in 2023. -
The association says immigrant workers account for more than 25% of the construction workforce. And the impact of immigration enforcement and workplace raids is felt across the board — with some markets reporting even workers with legal status not showing up due to ICE fears. -
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has poured billions into expanding detention capacity under the second Trump administration, but a new watchdog report shows tens of millions of it were wasted. -
Rights groups sued the Trump administration last year to stop what are known as third country removals — a process where immigrants are sent to a country they’re not from and have no ties to, often with little to no warning. -
The letter says Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has been unwilling to publicly affirm ICE and Border Patrol won't be sent to voting polls — despite that being against federal law.
