On more than one occasion, both through our news coverage and in our opinion comments, we have highlighted the fragile condition of those who risk everything to flee their countries in search of the American dream.
Unfortunately there are still many agents who do not take into account the vulnerability of migrants and treat them inhumanely, without the slightest compassion. Moreover, the abuse also extends to those who cross legally.
The Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) released this week a detailed report on 32 pages based on 4,000 interviews conducted in El Paso (Texas) and Las Cruces (New Mexico). The testimonies collect complaints of mistreatment at the hands of local law enforcement and federal agents that range from beatings, insults and threats. In other words, once again the pattern of physical and psychological abuse inflicted by the agents has been documented.
The report reveals unwarranted searches, arrests for racial profiling, discriminatory treatment at ports of entry, and senseless arrests by local police departments. They also detailed the alleged denial of basic needs in detention centers, reckless exposure to COVID-19, wrongful removals under Title 32 and endanger children.
Testimonies are disturbing, especially when it comes to searches. One woman said: “They put me against the wall, he started checking my private parts, he hit my left thigh, he spread my legs and he asked me if I had something in between (vagina)”. This is very humiliating and worrying.
Even people who have their papers in order to cross have had to face the hostility of those who exercise the border authority. “We had members of our community, including citizens, legal residents, visa holders, and women, report a disturbing pattern during inspections,” the report alleges.
The Department of Homeland Security has to review the standards and protocols when deciding the reasons why a person has to be subjected to a body and intimate parts search.
Border agents are not above the law. Somehow there has to be a training that makes them differentiate between the arrest of a criminal and that of an immigrant – of any gender – whose only crime is to seek a better life. This constant pattern of unjustified use of force must be broken.
Border agencies must act with transparency. Troops who perform erroneous body checks or commit physical and psychological abuse must be investigated and punished. At ports of entry, clear standards must be established to restrict secondary inspections.