Editor’s note: This story is a collaboration between the Texas Observer and the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. It was late afternoon when a small group traveling in a white Ford F-150 approached a humanitarian aid camp near Sasabe, a remote Arizona community along the U.S.-Mexico border. The visitors walked among tents, blue tarps, and nonperishable food—surveying the camp and filming its occupants.
“Y’all look sketchy as shit today,” said Greg Gibson, leader of the North Carolina United Patriot Party. Soon after, Border Patrol vehicles drove up the ridge, and a helicopter whirled overhead. Then, the vigilantes climbed into their private vehicles and continued their tour of Eagle Pass. In several cases, law enforcement failed to arrest or charge individuals who were repeatedly filmed committing suspected crimes in front of officers, including one case in which multiple alleged violations of the law were documented in a police report. promoting themselves on social media as humanitarians who pray over migrants, rescue them from the Rio Grande, and offer medical care for minor wounds.
Two members of the Patriots for America vigilante group record migrants in Shelby Park in Eagle Pass in 2022. the state’s “castle doctrine,” which already allows property owners to use or threaten deadly force if they feel threatened by a trespasser in their home or yard, in certain circumstances. House Bill 2843 would have expanded where such force could be used, to include land owned by farmers and ranchers along the border.
On his personal Instagram page and Sonoran Asset Group’s Instagram profile, Lamb shares footage of himself questioning and harassing migrants, whom he claims are collaborating with Mexican cartels. He often describes migrants as “military-age males.” In an email, a spokesperson for Dannels said the sheriff’s office does “not encourage outside organizations to participate in any patrol/enforcement actions,” though the sheriff prioritizes “maintaining autonomy and collaborations with non-law enforcement groups” and considers that “community policing is an internal function utilized for the betterment of our communities.”
Patriots for America , a North Texas-based Christian vigilante group led by Samuel Hall, a former missionary and longtime car salesman, claims to have worked with the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office to intercept migrants since 2021. In social media posts, Hall describes his team as a militia, though private paramilitary groups are illegal under the Texas Government Code. In livestreams, he emphasizes the group’s goal is to be the “hands and feet of Christ.