<p></p>
<p>The U.S.-Mexico Border Program of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) conducted a know-your-rights informational checkpoint at the new San Ysidro PedWest Port of Entry.</p>
<p>Volunteers informed border crossers about their rights and encouraged them to report any incident where alleged mistreatment by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents has occurred.</p>
<p>The Know-Your-Rights Checkpoint action continues AFSC’s Human Rights Documentation Campaign to document alleged cases of mistreatment by federal border and immigration agents. AFSC staff has focused on filing administrative complaints involving border and federal immigration agencies that interact regularly with immigrants and the general public. The campaign will end early next year.</p>
<p>“Many border crossers are unaware of their rights,” stated Sofia Sotres, AFSC’s human rights program associate. “When border crossers have had an abusive experience, it is important for them to know they can speak up and address the incident with the authorities.”</p>
<p>Volunteers wearing yellow safety vests talked with border crossers, passing out information about their rights, and documenting any testimony of abuse that could require further administrative action.</p>
<p>Border crossers have the right to be treated with respect and dignity. If a person is detained, the person has the right to know why are they being detained. Also, if an officer at a port of entry gives the border crosser something to sign, the border crosser needs to know what are they signing. These are some of the rights that border crossers have regardless of place of origin or their immigration status.</p>
<p>“Improved accountability and transparency measures benefits everyone,” Director of the US-Mexico Border Program AFSC Pedro Rios said. “Ultimately we would like to see systematic, agency-wide changes that prioritize civil and human rights, without impeding safety concerns.”</p>
<p>Next year AFSC will issue a report with recommendations in response to trends and patterns analyzed during this period. The U.S.-Mexico Border Program has historically assisted community members with administrative complaints for alleged abuses. Last year it participated in the Dignity Crossing campaign, which was a collaborative effort with border organizations throughout the U.S.-Mexico border. In a six-month period, from January to June 2015, the organizations documented a total of 147 cases of civil and human rights abuses by agents and officers. Of the 147 documented cases border-wide, 127 cases took place at ports of entry.</p>
<p>“A lot of the cases are of CBP officers not acting professionally. In one instance, a woman reported that her aunt was verbally mistreated with rude words,” Rios added. “The complaints are important for us because officers have a job to do, but if mistreatment frequently occurs that means there is something systematic about it and there is a lack of supervision.”</p>
<p> </p>