HomeMy WebLinkAboutMilitias Patrol BorderMonday, May 13, 2019
The Eagle • theeagle.com
News
Militias have
border for decades
A look at the history of private, armed groups hired or self-appointed
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An
armed group in New Mexico whose
leader faces federalfirearms posses-
sion charges drew national attention
last month for detaining asylum -
seeking Central American families
near the U.S.-Mexico border.
It's not the first time an armed
militia patrolled the border amid
immigration and racial tensions.
Throughout U.S. history, private,
armed groups have been hired or
appointed themselves to police the
U.S-Mexico border for a variety of
reasons — from preventing black
slaves from fleeing to stopping Chi-
nese immigrants from crossing over
illegally.
A look at the history of armed
groups patrolling the border:
Slave patrols
After the Mexican -American War,
slave -hunting groups began moni-
toring the border between Texas and
Mexico and watching for black slaves
who had run away.
Slavery had been abolished in
Mexico, and slaves from as far as
Alabama sought to escape to Mexico
through the southern Underground
Railroad before the U.S. Civil War.
Historians say the armed horse-
men sometimes went into Mexico
illegally to try to capture runaway
slaves but were met with resistance
from the Mexican government and
people. Mexico refused to return the
slaves who fled there.
University of Texas doctoral can-
didate Maria Esther Hammack has
documented how Mexican Ameri-
cans helped runaway slaves avoid
the patrols and escape to Mexico in
the mid-1800s.
The Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers were recom-
missioned after the U.S. Civil War.
Although the group was known for
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