Reported by: Christen Bejar
ABC15.com
ANTHEM, AZ -- Maricopa County sheriff’s deputies arrested 24 undocumented immigrants near Anthem Monday night.
Deputies reportedly made traffic stops near the Interstate 17 freeway and Anthem, which led to the arrests.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office officials say that the occupants of the vehicles, which were used for human smuggling, admitted to paying anywhere between $400 and $3,000 to be brought into the United States illegally.
Monday's arrests boosted the number of undocumented immigrant related arrests to 161 in the past month.
Sixteen of the arrested individuals will be charged with state felony human smuggling charges. The remaining eight were arrested under the 287g agreement and turned over to federal authorities.
The 287g agreement, which gave Sherriff Joe Arpaio federal authority to arrest undocumented immigrants, has been recently modified by the new administration in Washington D.C.
"This is yet another example of my promise to enforce all the illegal immigration laws in Maricopa County,” said Arpaio. “Regardless of the ever changing policies emanating from Washington D.C."
