Abuses

Recent Features

  • Litigation

Challenging Unconstitutional Conditions in CBP Detention Facilities

We have filed a class-action lawsuit challenging detention conditions in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facilities. The complaint alleges that Tucson Sector Border Patrol holds men, women, and children in freezing, overcrowded, and filthy cells for days at a time in violation of the U.S. Constitution and CBP’s own policies.

  • Special Report

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.

All Abuses Content

  • 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

Two People Died in Immigration Detention This Week

May 4, 2016

For more than a decade, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been criticized for the inadequate medical care available in its detention facilities, which has had deadly repercussions....

  • Blog

The Dire State of Immigration Detention in Georgia

June 6, 2017

Recent deaths at immigration detention centers in Georgia have made one fact disturbingly clear: detainees’ rights are being violated, with life and death consequences. These tragedies are not...

  • Blog

By Eliminating the Polygraph Test, Corruption among Border Agencies Could Run Rampant

May 17, 2017

The House and Senate Homeland Security Committees took action this month on two nearly identical bills that seek to fast-track the hiring of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers and Agents...

  • 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...

  • Special Report

Why Caution is Needed Before Hiring Additional Border Patrol Agents and ICE Officers

April 24, 2017

The last time the Border Patrol received a large infusion of money to hire thousands of new agents, cases of corruption and misconduct spiked in the agency. New hires were not sufficiently vetted...

  • 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...

  • Special Report

Deported with No Possessions

December 21, 2016
Too often, some or all of a detainee’s belongings are lost, destroyed, or stolen by the immigration-enforcement agents entrusted with their care.
  • 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,...

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