On Sunday, November 23, U.S. Border Patrol agents illegally entered a humanitarian aid camp in the southern Arizona borderlands and arrested three people who were receiving care. The agents did not have a warrant; instead, after waiting for an hour at the camp’s entrance, they suddenly claimed they were in “hot pursuit” and broke into multiple structures.1
In the late afternoon, volunteers with the group No More Deaths encountered federal agents parked at the entrance to their aid station, known as Byrd Camp (after the late children’s book author Byrd Baylor, who owned the property where the camp is located). For decades, this site has provided life-saving medical assistance, water, food, and shelter to people crossing the U.S.–Mexico border, who face hazardous and often lethal conditions in the militarized desert backcountry.
Over their vehicle speakers, federal agents commanded: “United States Border Patrol! Come out, Come out!”
Agents then requested permission to enter the property. Volunteers denied them entry for lack of a warrant, and the agents went back to waiting at the entrance. After about an hour, the agents returned, citing “an exception.”
Video taken by aid workers shows Border Patrol entering several trailers by breaking apart doors and windows. When pressed for a legal explanation, agents claimed they were in “hot pursuit” and therefore did not need a warrant. This claim fails to meet the basic legal standard of hot pursuit, which requires an immediate, continuous chase—not an hour of waiting.
“This illegal raid on our humanitarian aid station perpetuates a cycle of violence by not allowing those making a very deadly crossing to receive appropriate medical care, rest, food, and water,” said NMD aid worker Ary Tischler.
Border Patrol has previously entered Byrd Camp without a warrant, but never its structures, which have additional Fourth Amendment protections. Past raids—once in 2017 and twice in 2020—have been accompanied by a federal search warrant and a BORTAC team (Border Patrol’s SWAT unit). Sunday’s raid marked the first time agents have entered buildings without a warrant.
“Border Patrol entering structures without a warrant is an escalation of attacks against life-saving humanitarian aid as well as a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment protections that everyone, regardless of legal status, is protected under,” Tischler said.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Across the U.S., federal immigration agents have adopted increasingly unlawful and aggressive tactics. Chicago, for instance, has experienced hundreds of warrantless arrests violating a consent decree, and excessive use of force defying a court order. In Charlotte, Border Patrol agents detained a U.S. citizen after smashing open a car window. And the list goes on.
“No More Deaths firmly denounces this continued pattern of impunity and attacks on immigrants all over the country,” the group said in a statement. “We affirm the right of all people—regardless of migration status—to receive humanitarian aid. In accordance with this vision, Byrd camp has always operated in accordance with protocols set by international humanitarian law.”
In U.S. law, “hot pursuit” is an exigent circumstance that allows police to arrest people on private property without a warrant, which would otherwise be a violation of the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches, seizures, and arrests. In the “constitution free zone” that extends 100 miles inland from all land and sea borders, federal agents do not need a warrant to enter private property, but they do need a warrant (or a hot pursuit claim) to enter private structures.
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