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Moving toward Maricopa What made this Maricopa bust possible, agents say, is increased support from the Department of Defense. On top of a steep, recently paved stretch of border, members of the U.S. military sit daily inside a modified pickup truck, utilizing sur- veillance equipment provided by an Israeli con- tractor. According to a DoD initiative, military units now assist Homeland Security operations with aviation support, intelligence gathering and monitoring duties. From this perch, they run surveillance equipment, filling support roles previously filled by the border patrol. That gives agents new assignments into interior zones, like Maricopa, breaking up cartel scouted routes. “What’s changed is that the DoD has the authority to move,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Branch Chief John Mennell. “They can move to maintain eye contact or track [migrants]. They’re not going hands on, unless for defense, but they’re not arresting anyone. They call us in.” Mennell calls it “find, fix and finish.” “It’s a military phrase. They find the enemy, fix their location and finish them by bringing artillery down. This ain’t artillery, but the same principle applies. They’re calling in border patrol.” “Our job hasn’t changed,” said Vasavilbaso, “but now, we can do more of it further away from the line because we have the DoD While border patrol agents describe the military partnership as a force multiplier, critics see something else: a creeping militarization of civilian space. What began as logistical support is, in the eyes of watchdogs, rapidly morphing into a broader, less accountable surveillance state — one with few checks and a shifting sense of mission. watching the cameras.” Too much muscle? “There’s a different energy this time,” said Noah Schramm, border policy expert with the ACLU of Arizona. “The rhetoric has changed. The scope has changed. And the fear has changed.” Schramm says residents in the border patrol’s enforcement zone are increasingly reaching out to his office, unsure of their rights if stopped by uniformed personnel — especially those wearing military patches instead of border patrol insignia. “We’ve seen executive orders expand military jurisdiction to zones that blur the line between civilian and federal land,” he said. “If
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Two border agents with nearly four decades of experience between them scanned the horizon. They spoke in near code as they sat and watched for movement. This time, it was a false alarm — just a blowing bush silhouetted against the late morning sun. It is a different border and a different mission than it once was, said these agents. At its height, agents in this 236-mile stretch of the border made contact with 10,000 migrants in a single day. In 2023, Tucson’s sector chief John Modlin told Congress migrant encounters were quadruple what they had been just three years earlier. Things had gone from “unprecedented” to “a point where I no longer have the correct adjective to describe what’s going on.” Ortiz talked about politics by talking around politics. “Since January, things have really changed,” he said, bouncing down the dirt road heading south. “For the last three, four years, we were just inside processing, you know? The newer agents, all they know is processing. They don’t really know what it’s like actually being out here in the field.” Statewide, illegal crossings declined by more than 70% between January and February, Clockwise from above: Border Patrol Agent Robert Ortiz examines a culvert used by migrants to hide from detection. | A stray dog finds shade in the newly erected border wall. | A border patrol badge on Robert Ortiz’s shoulder. | Department of Defense equipment posted at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a federal database of migrant border crossings. Now, across the entire Tucson sector, a massive swath of Arizona desert along 262 border miles and stretching another 100 miles north, agents average fewer than three dozen encounters per day. The agents attribute the drop to new restrictions on asylum eligibility and increased detention capacity. “Before, it was catch and release,” Ortiz said. “Now, people know they’ll be held. That changed the game. We’re back to chasing people again. It used to be they turned themselves in. Now, it’s about pursuit. It’s about evasion.”
Before, it was catch and release. Now, people know they’ll be held. That changed the game. We’re back to chasing people again. It used to be they turned themselves in. Now, it’s about pursuit. It’s about evasion.” ROBERT ORTIZ, BORDER PATROL AGENT
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InMaricopa.com | June 2025
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