Next time you find yourself arguing over border politics in the lunchroom with that coworker who swears they saw a headless body near Gates Pass, turn to the Washington Office on Latin America’s Border Fact Check.
WOLA’s border project monitors border issues and the impact of security policies on undocumented immigrants. What that translates into is when someone like Sheriff Joe Arpaio flaps his lips about DREAMERS, the Border Fact Check counters with something you don’t hear much — the truth.
Their latest post took a look at the allegations made in the PBS Need to Know report, Crossing the Line, on abuses undocumented immigrants experience from some U.S. Border Patrol agents:
Are migrants routinely abused by Customs and Border Protection agents?
“We do not tolerate abuse within our ranks, and we fully cooperate with any criminal or administrative investigations of alleged misconduct by any of our personnel, on or off duty.”
— CBP spokeswoman Jenny Burke
The Facts:
As is highlighted in PBS’ new Need to Know report “Crossing the Line”, allegations of abuses by Border Patrol agents are widespread, and those responsible are seldom investigated and sanctioned. Border groups, human rights organizations and regional and international human rights bodies have documented multiple human rights violations committed by Border Patrol agents against migrants during the detention and deportation process.
From fall 2008 to spring 2011 the Arizona-based organization No More Deaths interviewed almost 13,000 migrants who had been in Border Patrol custody, in the Arizona border towns of Naco, Nogales, and Agua Prieta. Their report, A Culture of Cruelty, documents an alarming pattern of abuses including denial of or insufficient water and food; failure to provide medical treatment; verbal, physical and psychological abuse; separation of family members and dangerous repatriation practices.
In May 2012, the ACLU Southern Border Affiliates sent a complaint to the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and to the Inspector General of DHS regarding abuses by agents of the CBP Office of Field Operations, which staffs official border ports of entry. The memo details incidents of “excessive force; unwarranted, invasive and humiliating personal searches; unjustified and repeated detentions based on misidentification; and the use of coercion to force individuals to surrender their legal rights, citizenship documents, and property.”
Between 2010 and 2011 excessive use of force by Border Patrol and Field Operations agents has led to the death of six Mexican citizens. This includes the May 2010 death of Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas, who died after being beaten and then shocked by a Taser by a group of CBP officers at the San Ysidro port of entry near San Diego. His case is featured in part 1 of the Crossing the Line report.
While the Border Patrol is quick to investigate and sanction agents allegedly involved in drug trafficking, human smuggling or other activities, they rarely address and investigate abuses against migrants. At a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, No More Deaths affirmed that in spite of raising their concerns with Customs and Border Protection for several years, “the agency has taken the position that such abuses simply do not occur.” Other organizations with whom WOLA spoke during our research in border zones have also asserted that at best, even serious incidents such as the shootings of migrants result in administrative, not criminal, investigations and sanctions.
In February, Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher stated during a Congressional hearing that his agency takes allegations of abuse seriously. This statement and increased NGO dialogue with the CBP are certainly steps in the right direction given the magnitude of the problem.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2012.
The best way for migrants to avoid being abused is to simply stay home in the first place.
Or WW, we could end our phony ‘War On Drugs’ and arrest owners of companies that hire illegals and eliminate most of the cross border immigration. This would cause the elimination of most of the fear of living where they are and eliminate the ready job waiting for them, causing the immigration to slow to a controllable rate. People who fear for the safety of their family are willing to take any risk to secure a safer life for them no matter what you think or whatever obstacle you put in their way. Until you understand that you will never understand what’s going on.
What don’t you understand about the word Illegal Alien ?
IF they are illegal they will lie to try and stay here, one of the best lies is Legal Authorities hired to stop illegals entering the USA are abusive!! Hence requiring time here to use our legal system at tax payer expense against us. Its time the Liberals and PC brigade openned their eyes to reality….. They are illegal, They shouldn’t be here!!!!
Go to Mexico as an illegal and see where you end up….
I understand the word Illegal Immigrant just fine. I’m saying that treating the symptom will get you nowhere except to be an outlet for your frustrations at the expense of others. I’m proposing that we treat the causes, which will actually affect the situation. You can’t treat the symptoms till you cure the cause. The causes are that the Drug Cartels have taken over large areas of Mexico and Latin/South America (created by a multi-billion $ black market) making it an unsafe place to live and a multitude of companies here who hire illegals to work cheaper than us. In the last 3 years the economy has slowed down illegal immigration by providing fewer jobs and Obama’s administration has been deporting more illegals than previous administrations. So there are fewer illegals here now than before, but we have a long way to go before it’s a controllable situation. Eliminating the black market trade and removing the jobs to illegals would reduce the influx considerably, then we can determine where to go from there.
Not surprising. The worst place to be sick or injured is in an Arizona prison. They’ll drag their feet, and hope you die first. The assumption is that no matter how petty your crime, you deserve whatever you get. The same assumption is used for those they find in the desert. If they’re willing to do that to citizens, imagine what happens to those who have no recourse at all.