Abuses

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No Action Taken: Lack of CBP Accountability in Responding to Complaints of Abuse

One of the most revealing findings of this report concerns the prevailing lack of action taken by CBP officials in response to the complaints received.

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  • Blog

Spike in Corruption Followed Last Hiring Surge at CBP and ICE

April 25, 2017

When President Trump signed three immigration executive orders in January of this year, much of the attention was focused on the travel ban and border wall. But within those orders is another...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Hears Case on Shooting of Sergio Hernandez by U.S. Border Patrol Agent

February 22, 2017

Officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—the federal agency which includes the Border Patrol—are rarely held accountable for their actions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the...

  • Blog

The Ongoing Mishandling of Migrants’ Possessions by CBP and ICE

December 21, 2016

Each year, tens of thousands of individuals are deported from the United States to Mexico without their personal belongings—including their identifications, money, and cell phones, among other...

  • Blog

Judge Orders Border Patrol to Immediately Provide Short Term Detainees with Basic Necessities

November 29, 2016

A federal judge ordered the Border Patrol to immediately cease its practice of refusing to provide basic amenities to people detained in Border Patrol holding cells in Tucson, Arizona. The judge...

  • Blog

The Death Toll of Immigration Detention

November 1, 2016

Each year on November 1 and 2, people around the world celebrate the Day of the Dead—sometimes called All Souls Day or Día de los Muertos in Spanish—to remember and honor children and adults who...

  • Blog

Hearing Reveals Ongoing Civil Rights Abuses at Border Patrol Checkpoints

September 14, 2016

Under current law, the Border Patrol is allowed to conduct certain enforcement activities within 100 miles of the U.S-Mexico border that it isn’t permitted to in areas further interior. In fact,...

  • Blog

Lengthy Detention and Reprehensible Conditions in Border Patrol Facilities, New Evidence Shows

August 18, 2016

Each year, the Border Patrol—a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—holds hundreds of thousands of individuals in detention facilities near the U.S. southern border. These...

  • Blog

Photographic Evidence of Conditions in CBP’s Short-Term Detention Facilities “Hieleras” Revealed

June 30, 2016

A judge in Arizona unsealed photographs central to ongoing litigation challenging deplorable and unconstitutional conditions in Border Patrol’s short-term detention facilities in the Tucson Sector...

  • Blog

This Lawsuit Seeks to Determine Whether Customs and Border Protection Has Improved Its Complaint System

June 6, 2016

Two years ago, the American Immigration Council released an analysis of data it had obtained from the Department of Homeland Security detailing an utter lack of responsiveness to complaints filed...

  • Blog

CBP Officers Accused of Abusive Behavior at Ports Of Entry

May 19, 2016

Residents along the U.S.-Mexico border in Western Texas and New Mexico face repeated abuse from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Office of Field Operations (OFO) officers at ports of...

  • Blog

4 Ways ICE Doesn’t Hold Immigration Detention Facilities Accountable

February 13, 2019

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its component agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have a long-standing and poor track record when it comes to transparency and...

  • Blog

Immigrant Mothers Are Filing Claims for Monetary Compensation in the Wake of Family Separation Crisis

February 11, 2019

In April 2018, the Trump administration officially rolled out its “zero tolerance” policy—a policy that has since been universally condemned for its cruel and unlawful practice of separating...

  • Blog

Government Quietly Increases ICE Detention to 48,000 Beds During the Shutdown

January 31, 2019

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) drastically expanded its network of immigration jails in the last month by a startling 7 percent. ICE now holds about 48,000 individuals in its jails and...

  • Blog

FOIA Lawsuit Seeks Names of CBP Officers Who Allegedly Abused Children

January 10, 2019

Lack of transparency has long dogged the enforcement branches of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in particular, has been the subject of...

  • Blog

A Second Child Died in Border Patrol Custody. Why Is the Government Doubling Down on Deterrence?

January 2, 2019

In early December, seven-year-old Guatemalan Jakelin Caal died within hours after coming into the custody of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Her tragic death brought renewed attention to the...

  • Blog

How to Prevent More Deaths in Border Patrol Custody

December 17, 2018

In a year marked by the Trump administration’s cruel attempts to deter asylum-seeking families from coming to the United States, the news that a child had died in immigration custody appears to be...

  • Blog

The Government Failed to Conduct Background Checks on Staffers at Migrant Child Tent City

November 30, 2018

Thousands of migrant children are currently being held at a tent city in Tornillo, Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border. Most of the children traveled alone in order to flee from violence in their...

  • Blog

Autopsy Report Shows Transgender Immigrant Woman Beaten Before Death in ICE Custody

November 29, 2018

Roxsana Hernández Rodriguez, a 33-year-old transgender woman from Honduras, died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in May, weeks after presenting herself at the San Ysidro...

  • Blog

Will the Trump Administration Begin Family Separations Again?

October 22, 2018

The horrifying and tragic legacy of the Trump administration’s family separation policy—which allegedly ended by executive order in June this summer—is far from over. Even with many children still...

  • Blog

New Court Filing Highlights the Government’s Official “Turnback Policy” for Asylum Seekers

October 16, 2018

Eight new asylum seekers joined a lawsuit last week that challenges U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials’ widespread and well-documented practice of turning back asylum seekers at U....

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