Border Patrol agents in New Mexico stopped a high school swim team’s bus at a routine border checkpoint, ultimately boarding the bus and questioning the students.
On February 21, the Las Cruces Public Schools put 12 swimmers and two staff members on a charter bus to travel to their High School State Meet from Las Cruces to Albuquerque, normally a little more than a three hour drive.
Their bus was stopped, however, at a border control checkpoint. Since the students were traveling in a charter bus, there were no school decals meaning they received the treatment of a typical charter vehicle, rather than a school vehicle. Agents began questioning the driver. The driver was, reportedly, unable to answer their questions in English, causing the agents to board the bus.
According to reports, the agent began addressing the students at this point, as well as the adults who were also on the bus, questioning them about their legal status.
The United States Border Patrol spokesperson stated that the checkpoints “play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of our nation’s borders,” and that “the agents’ primary objective was to verify the legal status of the passengers.” They went on to say that once the process was complete “all individuals were confirmed to be legally present in the country and the agents disembarked without incident.”
This event has attracted the attention of numerous representatives, including U.S representative Gabe Vasquez, who is extremely upset about the situation.
In a press conference on Monday, Vasquez stated that “No student traveling to a school event should be subjected to intimidating enforcement actions.” He went on to bring teachers and parents into the discussion as well, saying “No teacher or coach should be put in a position where federal agents disregard their authority and responsibility for their students. And no parent should ever have to worry that their child is questioned by armed Federal officers simply because of the language they speak or the way they look.”
The Las Cruces Public School Superintendent stated in a news release that he hoped it was an “isolated event” and that he doesn’t think it will happen again.
The 12 students were made up of athletes from Las Cruces High School, Mayfield High School, and Centennial High School.
Centennial High School had a strong performance at the meet, regardless of their issues on the way there.
Conner Cooney ‘A’ finaled in both of his events, finishing 6th overall in the 200 freestyle (1:48.41) and in the 100 backstroke (54.40). Joshua Champion also picked up an ‘A’ finals swim with his 6th place finish in the 200 IM (2:02.30), and an event runner-up in the 100 breast (59.56).
On the girl’s side, Ayala Darangelis finished 4th in the 50 free (24.92) and 3rd in the 100 free (53.94).
Mayfield had one swimmer in the final in Arabella Richardson, who finished 14th in the girl’s 200 IM (2:24.91).
Finally, Las Crucas had one boy make the finals, with William Briske coming in 9th in the 200 IM (2:05.52) and 8th in the 500 free (5:05.28).
