Border Patrol Violently Assaults Civil Rights and Liberties
In the past week, unidentified federal officers in camouflage fatigues, labeled only 鈥減olice,鈥� abducted people off the streets of Portland in unmarked vehicles and threatened the 鈥� standing up for our Constitution. The administration later the unidentified officers were Border Patrol agents.听聽
This blatant demonstration of unconstitutional authoritarianism is demonstrating to the entire country the cruel capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol. For communities that have historically borne the brunt of Border Patrol鈥檚 abuses 鈥� and still do 鈥� seeing these agents pose as a 鈥渟ecret federal police鈥� force on the streets of Portland is no surprise. The Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which includes Border Patrol, has been conducting secret, violent arrests of immigrants for years.听聽聽聽
CBP is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States, with nearly 20,000 Border Patrol agents across the country. CBP, in fact, has the law enforcement air force in the world 鈥� roughly equivalent to the size of Brazil鈥檚 entire combat air force 鈥� including fleets of planes, helicopters, and Predator .听
CBP and Border Patrol have expanded rapidly for almost 20 years, since CBP was relocated into the then-newly formed DHS. Fueled by unprecedented funding from Congress, Border Patrol鈥檚 abuses have grown increasingly violent and common. Their over policing of border communities is deeply rooted in the nation鈥檚 history of over-policing of Black and Brown people.听
At least have died as a result of encounters with Border Patrol in the last decade. Six of these deaths were caused by Border Patrol agents shooting across the border into Mexico 鈥� murders met with complete impunity. The agency also lacks practices: No agent has ever been convicted of criminal wrongdoing while on duty, despite deaths in custody and uses of excessive, . Border Patrol agents engage in criminal activities outside their official duties at of other law enforcement agencies鈥� officials. The agency鈥檚 system is broken and agency leadership has not weeded out agents. As James Tomsheck, CBP鈥檚 former , described the agency鈥檚 culture: It 鈥済oes out of its way to evade legal restraints鈥� and is 鈥渃learly engineered to interfere with [oversight] efforts to hold the Border Patrol accountable.鈥澛�
U.S. border communities have long understood the cruel capacity and impunity of this rogue agency. Witness El Paso, Texas. In the last month alone, a Border Patrol resulted in the deadliest crash in the city鈥檚 history, killing seven people, including four locals. In separate incidents also this month, a Border Patrol agent a migrant with his vehicle and deported the survivor before local reporting exposed the incident, and Border Patrol found a woman at the base of President Trump鈥檚 border wall and side-stepped investigating or reporting her death. These grotesque examples are in addition to the thousands of children and families subjected to after being subjected to CBP鈥檚 unlawful asylum , or the horrors of Border Patrol鈥檚 systematic in its custody.听
While Border Patrol鈥檚 foundation of overreach and President Trump, this administration has that it took the proverbial 鈥渉andcuffs鈥� off the agency, fueling even more abuses and trampling the rights of migrants and border residents alike.
Since June, in response to nationwide protests against the murder of George Floyd, CBP deployed over U.S. cities, including Buffalo, New York, Minneapolis, Miami, Chicago, and Philadelphia. CBP flooded the streets of Washington, D.C. and , with around the agency鈥檚 mission, claimed authority, or any accountability for misconduct. As CBP officials cracked down on protesters in Portland, an expressed the agency's own concerns that CBP lacks the necessary training to respond to crowds or protests. Even with this knowledge, DHS has deployed these officers into our streets, with complete disregard for potential consequences.听
Now, the administration appears poised to its deployment of federal forces to what it calls 鈥淒emocrat-run cities鈥� across the country, including 150 agents to this week, risking another unconstitutional nightmare of police violence. This is a mistake that could prove lethal.
This month, the House of Representatives took important first steps in cutting funding to CBP and other immigration enforcement agencies. But reining in the nation鈥檚 largest and least accountable law enforcement agency will require divestment from the nation鈥檚 massive border agency, and reinvestment in Black and Brown communities. Just this week, DHS it is transferring funds, allocated for accountability measures, to pay for a surge in unaccountable CBP staffing and paychecks. This is unacceptable and dangerous. We must collectively dismantle the systems of racism and xenophobia that have allowed Border Patrol 鈥� with its bloated budget, overbroad , and staff of unaccountable agents 鈥� to terrorize and kidnap protesters from the streets of Portland and undermine the civil rights and liberties of all American communities, near and far from the border.
