Tucson Samaritans volunteer seen holding open hole in border fence, encouraging migrants to pass through, as Republicans demand investigation into NGOs ‘facilitating crisis’
Tucson Samaritans volunteers have been caught on camera holding open a hole in a border fence and waving migrants through, according to a congressman who is now demanding an investigation into NGOs that help migrants enter the United States illegally.
Rep. Tom Tiffany said the organization, along with Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans, ‘helps illegal immigration’ by helping the hordes of foreigners arriving in America daily.
Video shows a volunteer holding open a hole in the fence at the US-Mexico border in Arizona as a steady stream of migrants pass through.
The man appears to be filming as five asylum seekers push through one after the other.
The footage then cuts to them being loaded into cars with bags and driven away.
The Tucson Samaritans and the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans have been accused of aiding illegal immigration after video emerged showing what is claimed to be one of their volunteers holding a hold open in the border fence to let migrants through
The footage was shot at the US-Mexico border in Arizona, the site of thousands of illegal crossings
Republican Tom Tiffany accused the NGOs of violating Title 8, USC 1324(a), which makes it an offense for any person to encourage or bring an alien into the United States,
The Republicans are demanding answers from the NGOs they say are helping and contributing to the crisis
Rep. Tiffany said the migrants were transported to a camp in the Coronado National Forest run by No More Deaths, a non-profit working with the Samaritans.
“Section 8, USC 1324(a) makes it an offense for any person to encourage or bring an alien into the United States,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Congress must take action and investigate these NGOs.’
Tiffany is now demanding a DOJ investigation after visiting one of the migrant camps.
“These NGOs are actively facilitating illegal immigration without concern that the Biden administration will crack down on them,” he told DailyMail.com.
‘They are breaking the law and many are receiving tax dollars to carry out the Biden border invasion. Congress must investigate these organizations.’
He also shared photos posted by the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans, which he said showed them ‘bragging’ about the tent camps.
When contacted by DailyMail.com, the NGOs insisted they were being ‘truly produced’.
‘The post by Representative Tom Tiffany, a representative from Wisconsin, misrepresents the events.
‘As an organization that has been around for more than 20 years, we work to ease suffering and prevent death along the US-Mexico border.
‘The situation with asylum seekers presents challenges for everyone to respond in a humane, legal way.
‘That’s what we do.’
The groups say their actions are “misrepresented”. They say their aim is to ‘alleviate the suffering’ of those who cross the border illegally
Tiffany is now pushing for a DOJ investigation into the role of NGOs in the transitions, which hit up to 1,000 a day
Tiffany said the migrants were transported to a camp in the Coronado National Forest
The non-profit state that its mission is ‘to offer humanitarian assistance to migrants in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands’ and later claims that ‘humanitarian assistance is never a crime. The organization is sponsored by The Good Shepherd United Church of Christ.
Meanwhile, Tucson Samaritans says it is providing ‘water, food, first aid and other essentials to migrants crossing the border in southern Arizona.
The organization spent $13,804 in supplies in 2023, according to its website.
Up to 1,000 people cross the border into Arizona each day, with more than 250,000 migrant encounters reported in Tucson over the past fiscal year to date.
More broadly, Border Patrol encountered a record 250,000 migrants crossing into the United States via Mexico in December.
Video taken in San Diego on Friday showed a mass release of migrants from Border Patrol custody after a local reception center ran out of money sooner than expected.
Among those released were people from Peru, Colombia and India who hoped to travel to Atlanta and Minneapolis to work, according to Fox journalist Bill Melugin.
The migrants were released with notices to appear in immigration court.
In recent months, Republicans have called for an investigation into the role of NGOs in helping migrants at the border.
Tiffany was among a group of GOP representatives who wrote to Catholic Charities USA, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Jewish Family Service of San Diego to express their concerns.
“While Americans suffer the consequences of the unprecedented chaos at the border, NGOs continue to profit by exploiting our immigration laws.
Congressman Tiffany has previously written to NGOs informing them of his intention to investigate the assistance they provide to asylum seekers
The NGOs state on their websites that they provide humanitarian aid to those who have made the treacherous journey through the desert
It comes on the same day that hundreds of migrants were dumped on the streets of San Diego after being released from Border Patrol custody
A migrant from Ecuador shaves as he arrives at a bus stop after leaving a treatment facility Friday in San Diego
The migrants were handed notices to appear in immigration court after local government funding for a reception center ran out of money sooner than expected
“Taxpayers should not support any organization that facilitates the movement of illegal immigrants across our border.
“When NGOs transport unauthorized aliens into the interior of the country, it becomes increasingly difficult for federal immigration enforcement agencies to monitor their whereabouts and protect our communities,” the letter said.
The missive confirmed that the House would “continue to investigate your organization’s role in facilitating the border crisis, your potential violations of federal law, and your misuse of taxpayer funds.”
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is considering an immigration crackdown that would close the border if more than 8,500 try to cross in a day, a law repeatedly used by former President Donald Trump.
The law, if the migrant crisis reached those numbers per day, would unilaterally impose a sweeping ban at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans for comment.