吃瓜大本营

The latest violent imagery to emerge from Border Patrol鈥檚 actions at the U.S.-Mexico border warrants not only outrage and immediate , but also deep reforms to an entrenched culture of abuse at Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal law enforcement agency that includes the sub-agency Border Patrol. One video from Del Rio, Texas shows a Border Patrol officer telling a Haitian migrant, 鈥淭his is why your country鈥檚 shit, because you use your women for this!鈥� This abhorrent comment is not an aberration: CBP has long had a pervasive culture of cruelty and dehumanization of migrants that includes this kind of 鈥� often anti-immigrant and racist 鈥� . The Biden administration must ensure CBP personnel treat people with dignity and humanity.

Narrow investigations and hollow assurances are not an adequate response to Border Patrol鈥檚 horrifying treatment and verbal abuse of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas. President Biden must immediately prioritize a systemic overhaul of CBP, including fundamental reforms of its use of force policies, hiring and disciplinary practices, and complaint mechanism. In light of Border Patrol鈥檚 long-standing failures, President Biden should oppose any move to reward the agency with increased funding. And Congress, for its part, should also be shrinking the agency鈥檚 budget, not contemplating any increase.

Every day, CBP carries out U.S. border policy and interacts with migrants through the filter of an agency culture steeped in cruelty, xenophobia and racism, violent inhumanity, and impunity. On rare occasions, the agency鈥檚 abusive actions are caught on camera. But images of CBP, surveillance video of a of a Border Patrol facility, or horse-mounted agents captured on camera tell only a small part of the long history of the agency鈥檚 violent actions, and the lack of accountability with which they have been met.

The Border Patrol, initially a small agency, was established in an anti-immigrant atmosphere in 1924. It employed white supremacists, including members, from the outset, and its early history included regular beatings, shootings, and hangings of migrants. Now, after rapid expansion in the early 2000s due to unprecedented funding, Border Patrol鈥檚 ranks include nearly 20,000 agents, making it the nation鈥檚 law enforcement agency. It is also the least accountable.

At least have died following 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� yet no agent was held accountable for the killings. The agency lacks practices: No agent has ever been convicted of criminal wrongdoing while on duty, despite deaths in custody and uses of excessive, . The agency鈥檚 system is broken. As James Tomsheck, CBP鈥檚 former , has described, the agency 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�

Between just 2019 and 2020, the ACLU filed 13 administrative complaints with internal oversight bodies, documenting hundreds of cases of CBP abuse鈥搃ncluding of asylum seekers, families, pregnant persons, and children, among other misconduct. Existing accountability mechanisms have failed to prevent abuses or adequately hold agents to account in ways that would deter future misconduct.

Border Patrol鈥檚 abuses are also not limited to the border itself--and have particularly targeted communities of color in the United States. The agency deploys its massive police force across the country where agents profile,, and militarize U.S. communities. Just last year, Border Patrol agents terrorized and kidnapped protesters from the streets of after deployment to Black Lives Matter protests sparked by George Floyd鈥檚 murder, and sent sniper units to George Floyd鈥檚 burial service with authority to use .

Verbal abuse of migrants is not unique to the mistreatment documented in Del Rio. In 2019, the ACLU received reports from migrants that detailed verbal abuse by Border Patrol agents. The abuse included bullying, harassment, threats, racism, and misstatements about U.S immigration law. Reported abuse was in line with that in the Del Rio video: For example, migrants described Border Patrol agents calling them derogatory terms and making comments such as, 鈥淚鈥檝e fucking had it with you, this is why you guys don鈥檛 advance in your country.鈥�

As the disturbing videos from Del Rio show, verbal abuse often accompanies agents鈥� physical violence. For example, a Border Patrol agent who pleaded guilty in 2019 to repeatedly hitting a migrant with a truck sent in which he described migrants as 鈥渄isgusting subhuman shit unworthy of being kindling in a fire.鈥� His attorney the xenophobic messages as 鈥減art of the agency鈥檚 culture鈥� and 鈥渃ommonplace.鈥�

Border Patrol鈥檚 abuse often targets those who are particularly vulnerable. In 2014, more than 50 children verbal abuse. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e the garbage that contaminates this country,鈥� one agent told a child. Children have reported that CBP has called them a wide range of derogatory names Migrants also have reported numerous highly derogatorycomments.

The agency鈥檚 long-entrenched culture of violence and abuse toward migrants is completely contrary to the basic dignity and respect with which all migrants 鈥� and anyone who encounters law enforcement 鈥� should be afforded.

The Biden administration cannot reward these kinds of human rights abuses by federal law enforcement officers nor allow them to continue. The administration must reject Border Patrol efforts for increased funding and must undertake a complete overhaul of CBP policy and practices, including:

• Reforming CBP鈥檚 use of force standards, including through public policies and robust transparency requirements for use-of-force incidents and investigations;
• A moratorium on new Border Patrol hires;
• Expanded training, particularly cultural competence and bias/anti-racism training;
• New public disciplinary guidelines that mirror best practices in other law enforcement agencies; and
• The creation of a publicly accessible national database of complaints and written resolutions.

We laid out these and other detailed recommendations before the start of this administration. CBP鈥檚 rampant abuses are doomed to repeat themselves absent robust reforms.

Agents domineered over migrants, menacing them with horses and lariats and making derogatory comments in Del Rio with the eyes of the country upon them. But agents have acted this way with impunity for many years out of the public view 鈥� and it is past time for these racist and anti-immigrant abuses to end.