The rise in smuggling of children into the country illegally is becoming a concern with law enforcement authorities. Now, authorities are whether “the increase of juveniles coupled with President Obama’s new policy, are these juveniles coming over in hopes of getting accepted into the Dream Act?”
In the last two days, Maricopa County deputies have arrested eleven more undocumented entrants in the southern portion of Maricopa County; five were juveniles. Out of the suspects, six were booked into the 4th Avenue Jail on state human smuggling charges, which are class four felonies.
During the last 30 day crackdown, 78 suspected undocumented entrants involved in human smuggling have been arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies.
During the recent investigation, deputies discovered all eleven occupants of the vehicle admitted to paying between $300 and $4,000 to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. Their destinations were Phoenix, West Virginia, Alabama and even New York.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department and individual border patrol agents have noted a recent rise in smuggling incidents with children. “The entry into Maricopa County from Mexico does not seem to have subsided by evidence of the recent arrests by my deputies.” Arpaio says, “We will continue to pursue and apprehend human smugglers. The majority of those arrested will be charged with class four felonies and booked into the county jail.”
To date the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested over 5,700 undocumented entrants involved in human smuggling.