On Thursday China said that it granted its border patrol police the power to board and search ships in the area.

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The police officer called Border Patrol during the stop and an agent instructed the officer to put Vargas Ramirez on the phone.

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In July 1997, city officials in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona, paired up local police officers with U.S. Border Patrol agents in an attempt to rid the city of illegal immigrants.

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Agencies participating in the drill also included the FBI, Customs and Border Patrol, the Port of Houston Authority and local police.

NPR: Houston Drill Tests Agencies' Preparedness

When the local police find and detain the illegals they contact the Border Patrol and then the Border Patrol refuses to return to the scene because it was lunchtime.

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The complaint alleges that the police report filed by the officer who pulled Vargas Ramirez contradicts the Border Patrol report.

WSJ: Immigrant groups sue federal border agencies

While police try to send the migrants back, officials from other branches of Mexico's government patrol the border to help advise the migrants of their human rights as they pass through the country.

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