Feds charge 227 people for immigration crimes in Arizona during single week

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The U.S. Attorney’s Office says they filed immigration-related criminal charges for 227 people in a single week in Arizona alone as feds continue to conduct targeted and enhanced operations around the country.

According to prosecutors, the operations were conducted during the first week in March. In particular, 120 were charged for illegally entering the country, while an additional 92 cases involved people who illegally reentered.

Prosecutors say 12 cases were filed against 15 suspects accused of smuggling illegal immigrants into Arizona. One other person is charged with assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent.

Arizona’s Family previously reported about several immigration-related busts in the state, including one in February for smugglers reportedly impersonated border agents to smuggle undocumented migrants to a stash house in Yuma.

Earlier this week, federal officials announced an indictment for a Phoenix man who was in the country illegally and charged with human smuggling and drug charges.

During a border visit in Texas this week, Vice President JD Vance said arrests for illegal crossings fell sharply because President Trump demanded that the government prioritize the issue in ways his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, never did.

“The border crisis has become a matter of national intelligence and it’s also become something that requires the Department of Defense to engage,” Vance said.

Arizona’s Family reported that the Yuma area used to see around 40 apprehensions a day, but on Tuesday, the Yuma sector reported only one apprehension.

“Agents are able to spend their time looking for threats, looking for any violations of federal law,” Yuma Border Patrol Chief Justin De La Torre told Arizona’s Family reporter Alexandra Rangel. “If we have a day where there are zero detections of illegal entries, that’s a very good thing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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