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US authorities issue warning after group stops migrants

In this Jan. 4, 2016 photo, a U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols Sunland Park along the U.S.-Mexico border next to Ciudad Juarez. U.S. authorities are warning citizens not to take the law into their own hands after a group patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border stopped hundreds of migrants when they crossed into southern New Mexico this week. (Russell Contreras / AP)
Associated Press

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – U.S. authorities are warning citizens not to take the law into their own hands after a group patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border stopped hundreds of migrants when they crossed into southern New Mexico this week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued the warning through social media Friday, saying interference in law enforcement matters could have public safety and legal consequences.

Several hundred migrants crossed into New Mexico within a 24-hour period Tuesday. That included 360 people who the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico contends were held at gunpoint near Sunland Park.

Video of Tuesday’s encounter shows members of United Constitutional Patriots telling the migrants to sit while authorities were called. Group spokesman Jim Benvie says members never pointed guns at the migrants and they weren’t forced to stay.