Former employee of the Arizona Department of Agriculture, Joshua Castro, was arrested at the southern border for alleged human trafficking. Joshua Castro is facing 2 federal charges, 1 felony and 1 misdemeanor. On April 9th, 2025, border patrol agents saw a black Chevrolet Impala quickly leaving a known smuggling route and getting onto Interstate 19, driving a certain way to see if any law enforcement was in the area. The following day, the border patrol agents saw the same car, except now it had 2 passengers in the back seat. Agents followed the car along the interstate. They pulled the Impala over and asked Castro about the 2 passengers in the back seat. Castro said the 2 men had asked him for a ride and that he didn’t know them, but the agents soon determined that the 2 men were illegally entering the United States. One of the men told border patrol agents he paid 150,000 pesos, or about 7000 United States dollars, to get into the United States. Following Castro’s arrest for these crimes, he was fired from his job. Although Castro was not on duty at the time of his arrest, he was wearing his uniform.
The governor of Arizona, Katy Hobbs, has responded to the situation with this statement: “Action has been taken within the department to ensure that this is not a more widespread issue and that things are in place to ensure that employees have the training that they need to recognize if this is something that’s happening” Hobbs also said her administration would cooperate with any criminal investigation of Castro. The Department of Agriculture released this statement about the current situation. The department is reviewing its policies and will make any changes necessary to avoid a situation like this in the future. But Senator Jake Hoffman, who leads the Senate panel that vets the governor’s agency directors, criticized Hobbs’ handling of the situation. Hobbs responded that she would implement new employee training to ensure that this doesn’t happen again. Hoffman responded, saying this is clownish and laughable on its face. He said if her employees need to be trained that human smuggling is against the law, then Hobbs’ administration is even more dysfunctional and chaotic than everyone thought. This case is still ongoing and has much more to unfold, but in my opinion, this event is shocking to Arizona, as it shows that not every government employee knows the law, which is just concerning overall.