Human Rights Office Issues Report on Border Abuses

<figure id="attachment_40551" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-40551" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/sites/default/files/2017/06/PhotographerJosh-Denmark.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-40551 size-medium" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PhotographerJos…; alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Photogr… 300w, https://dev-laprensa.pantheonsite.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Photogr… 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-40551" class="wp-caption-text">Foto de/Josh Denmark</figcaption></figure>
The U.S.-Mexico Border Program (USMBP) of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) published a report that alleges abusive practices by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at the border.
The report called “On the Borderline: Abuses at the United States-Mexico Border” follows a year-long human rights documentation campaign where border crossers were encouraged to report mistreatment by federal border and immigration agents while crossing the San Diego land ports.
The purpose of the campaign was to document misconduct by law enforcement agencies and to hold agencies accountable for actions that have violated civil and human rights.
During the campaign, the USMBP documented 51 cases of people alleging mistreatment by CBP and other immigration enforcement agents.
Forty-two percent of people alleging abuse by federal border and immigration agents were U.S. citizens, 40 percent were Mexican citizens, 9 percent were U.S. legal residents, and the rest were Canadian, Colombian, Guatemalan, and Spanish citizens.
“Although 51 cases is not a big number compared to the number of people that cross the border daily, there are many similarities between the cases,” said Pedro Rios, director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program to La Prensa San Diego. “There is a lot of verbal abuse and lack of professionalism from the agents.”
In their research, AFSC staff found that specific issues of concern included 94 percent of people experiencing some form of verbal harassment or abusive language; 90 percent of people being either discouraged or not told about how to file a complaint; and 52 percent of people being sent to secondary inspection without an explicit reason.
“This report highlights that CBP needs to improve its treatment of people, especially when they are held at secondary inspection, where there seems to be less adherence to civil and human rights standards,” stated Sofia Sotres, AFSC’s human rights program associate.
The report includes specific recommendations that seek to improve law enforcement accountability measures for border and immigration agencies that interact with the public at ports of entry, this to ensure fulfillment of the Constitution of the United States, and that comply with national and international legal norms guided by ethical principles.
One of the recommendations is to make federal and immigration agents accountable for violations of human and civil rights by creating a transparent process on the investigation of complaints alleging abuse, including quarterly reports that detail in how many cases disciplinary action was taken, and related information to complaints filed by members of the public.
“Improved accountability and transparency measures benefits everyone,” Rios said. “We would like to see systematic, agency-wide changes that prioritize civil and human rights, without impeding safety concerns.”
The USMBP has historically assisted community members with administrative complaints for alleged abuses. After this campaign, eight complaints were filed.
The AFSC encourages individuals to step forward and report mistreatment by calling to (619) 233-4114.

Author

Ana Gomez Salcido