Smugglers are bringing migrants to a remote Arizona border crossing, overwhelming US agents

By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol says it is overwhelmed by a shift in human smuggling routes, with hundreds of migrants from faraway countries like Senegal, Bangladesh and China being dropped in a remote desert area in Arizona. The area around Lukeville is hours away by car to U.S. hospitals and migrant shelters. The U.S. government responded last week by indefinitely closing the crossing between Lukeville and Sonoyta, Mexico, to free officers assigned to the port to instead help agents apprehend migrants. Federal air marshals who provide security on commercial flights and even Federal Protective Service officers who guard U.S. government buildings also are being called on.