Smugglers are putting once-quiet neighborhoods on edge
- Human smuggling has been a persistent border problem
- Law enforcement pursuits of smugglers are disquieting neighborhoods
- One community has seen over 400 smuggling arrests in less than a year
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(NewsNation) — People living in once-quiet neighborhoods along the border in Arizona are now living with the presence of human smugglers.
Three times in five days, pursuits of human smugglers have ended up in the Sierra Vista neighborhood in Cochise County.
“It was pretty scary,” said Carlos Villicana, a resident of the neighborhood, about encountering a law enforcement apprehension of smugglers.
Even the families of law enforcement officials feel unnerved. Deputy Andrew Marshall of the Cochise County Sherriff’s Office described the panic his wife and daughter felt after his neighborhood was the site of a recent human smuggling pursuit.
“She was not very safe in her own home, last night. And she didn’t want me to leave. So it sucks being on this side,” he said.
Local law enforcement officials say they have conducted 409 arrests from Sept. 2022 through July 2023.
