Arizona Border Recon Provides Intel and Back-up for Federal Officers

As economic forces and drug trade create more illegal immigration over the U.S.-Mexico border, the U.S. has beefed up its law enforcement response in the past decade. And as federal border security has increased, so too has the number of volunteer and militia groups that aim to support the federal efforts. One of these is Arizona Border Recon, founded in 2011 of mostly former law enforcement and former service members. Its members patrol the borderlands, collect intel on the routes of those who cross the border and turn back anyone they deem illegal.

Arizona Border Recon treads a blurry line: Its members are not part of official border patrol but follow their own standard operating procedure that details everything from how they maintain their vehicles to which firearms they are authorized to use. Their website states that “we value human life, and to that extent we will do what we can to help anyone we encounter.”

Johnson describes their encounters with people who had crossed the border illegally as “firm but polite.”

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