BajaNomad - Border Officers Mistreat People Entering US Legally

Border Officers Mistreat People Entering US Legally

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 07:31 AM

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/10/aclu-dhs-investig...

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security calling for an investigation into alleged abuses of U.S. citizens, legal residents and other visitors to the U.S. at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The complaint, submitted Wednesday, will be the subject of a news conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in San Diego. Officials for the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, one of its agencies, were not immediately available for comment; this story will be updated once they respond.

ACLU lawyers detailed 11 cases where Customs and Border Protection officers are accused of violating civil and human rights of certain individuals – mostly U.S. citizens, legal residents and others with permission to enter the country – by allegedly using excessive force, ignoring due process and illegally confiscating property.

The 17-page complaint said the targeted individuals suffered panic attacks, were detained and handcuffed without explanation, beaten, threatened or, in one case, chained by a toe to a bench. It also alleged that people were interrogated intensely and coerced into falsely admitting they were not born in the United States despite being native-born citizens. And the complaint alleges verbal abuse by officers that included obscenities and racist and intimidating remarks, including “*******” and “you’re invading my country.”

“There is simply no justification for the kind of needless abuse CBP officers inflict on many travelers,” said Sean Riordan, staff attorney for the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties. “Far too many travelers are told by CBP officers that they ‘have no rights.’ But the government must comply with basic and constitutional rights even when it is policing the border.”

Customs and Border Protection oversees Port of Entry officers, who wear blue uniforms, and U.S. Border Patrol agents, who wear green and patrol the open lands between official entry points.

The ACLU is asking the agency to look into each allegation of abuse outlined in the complaint; launch a comprehensive investigation of alleged abuses at ports of entry; and implement changes in training, oversight and accountability.

Four affiliates of the ACLU signed the letter: San Diego and Imperial Counties, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and the ACLU Human Rights Program joined the complaint.

Here are some cases outlined in the complaint:

At the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Feb. 25, 2011, Marc Ballin, a U.S. citizen returning from Mexico in the pedestrian line, attempted to cut in line. CBP officers asked him to step out of line and he apologized for cutting, then turned over his passport. Ballin said he was then handcuffed and his head was slammed into a desk before he was pushed, punched and kicked. After being removed from the public area, he said, he was threatened with a tasing if he did not provide fingerprints and a photo. Ballin said he was then released without explanation, and proceeded to a hospital where he was treated for shoulder and wrist injuries.

At the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in April 2009, Trosky Vasquez, a U.S. citizen and former Marine, was returning with his wife and a friend. He was allegedly detained, beaten and threatened with a tasing before he was released without explanation. Vasquez said when he asked for the names of the officers involved in his situation, a supervisor told him: “The rules are different here. We’re protected by the Patriot Act.” Vasquez said he went to a hospital, where he received treatment for bruises and had his wrist placed in a cast.

At the Otay Mesa crossing in June 2011, U.S. citizen Michael Studdard was headed southbound on foot. Officers tried to stop him and he asked why. Studdard had a tape recorder in his hand and several minutes later an officer tried to take it from him. He alleges he was thrown on a table and handcuffed, then placed in a cell for nearly an hour before he was released without explanation.

Hernan Cuevas, a Chilean businessman trying to enter the Calexico/Mexicali Port of Entry with a valid visa, was allegedly handcuffed, strip-searched and detained for more than three hours without explanation on May 19, 2011. At some point, Cuevas said, he was chained by his big toe to a metal bench. According to his complaint, a CBP officer told him: “I don’t give a *## of your educated manners and all your corporate bullchit. This is my country now…” Cuevas said he asked to call his attorneys or the Chilean Consulate but was denied.

Edith Collins-George, a U.S. citizen, drove into the Calexico/Mexicali Port of Entry after visiting her mother in Mexico on March 23, 2010. She was returning with a desk chair in her vehicle. Collins-George said she was referred to secondary inspection, where she was allegedly handcuffed without explanation. When she told officers that she's an American citizen, she was reportedly told: "You don’t have rights here.” She was allegedly not allowed to contact a lawyer, then released without explanation a few hours later.

The ACLU complaint comes after other international human-rights groups have raised concerns about Customs and Border Patrol conduct. They include:

In 2008, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed worry “about allegations of brutality and use of excessive or deadly force by law enforcement officials against persons belonging to racial, ethnic or national minorities, in particular Latino and African American persons and undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.”

In 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleged "abuses and excesses committed by officers charged with enforcing the law” along the same border.

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 07:43 AM

If they do this stuff to people entering legally, imagine what they do to those entering illegally. :rolleyes:

LaPazGringo - 5-10-2012 at 08:30 AM

The ACLU complaining that someone was abused? I refuse to believe it.

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 08:33 AM

Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

LaPazGringo - 5-10-2012 at 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

I can't force you to read the article! You have that right.

LaPazGringo - 5-10-2012 at 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

I can't force you to read the article! You have that right.

I just swallowed my pride and read it. That's the best the ACLU can come up with? Millions and millions and millions of people crossing and they present one side of a few random stories? I wonder what the other side of the story is? And so what does the ACLU suggest we do about the rampant abuse of civil liberties by Homeland Security? :rolleyes:

Taco de Baja - 5-10-2012 at 09:29 AM

I remember the time one of these "thugs" grabbed my wrist when I pulled up to the gate (pre 9/11) in my vehicle and asked "Do you always had high blood pressure?"

When I calmly told him, "You can't determine BP by grabbing a wrist.", he got a little peeved.

Then he asked if I had any drugs.

I said "Sure, aspirin, Tylenol, Tums,..."

He got even more peeed and said "I mean, ILLEGAL drugs!"

I said, "That's not what you asked..." :rolleyes:

He of course sent us to secondary where we had to wait for almost an ENTIRE HOUR while the "white shirts" and the "blue shirts" had to decide who was responsible for checking the vehicle out in more detail.....

Oh the horror!
:lol:

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

Having no interest in the protection of the few remaining civil liberties you have as an American citizen is despicable but all too common.

Your civil liberties have been and are being taken from you slowly and insidiously. Back in January, 40,000 new laws went into effect all over America. The politicians continue to hit us with wave after wave of regulations and laws with no end in sight as a method of control of "their" resource. The Sheeple, of which you are included.

Your thinking and adherence to a police state of controls is opening US culture to two words that previously were the exclusive province of N-zi Germany and the communist bloc: "Papers, please."

LaPazGringo - 5-10-2012 at 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cisco

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

And the ACLU is going to save us from such horrors, right?

sancho - 5-10-2012 at 10:46 AM

I guess being an Gringo Caucasian has some
benefits

PAPERS PLEASE

J.P. - 5-10-2012 at 10:48 AM

Look around that day is upon us now. they already have the infrastructure in place. :?:

mtgoat666 - 5-10-2012 at 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

there are 2 types of people in the world: neo-N-zis and people that value civil rights :lol:

seriously, the aclu fights for the rights of all, conservatives and liberals -- it is silly for anyone but a fascist to be anti-aclu

heck, the aclu has defended civil rights of neo-N-zi skinheads :lol:

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by Cisco

Quote:

Originally posted by LaPazGringo

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
Yeah, I knew the letters ACLU in the article would cause many to ignore the mistreatment of these people in the story.

Honestly, I stopped reading right there. The ACLU's very existence is predicated on allegations of mistreatment. Not interested, but that's just me!

And the ACLU is going to save us from such horrors, right?

Nope! We’re screwed. It has been too long that the American people have sat on their butts enjoying the latest sports, who’s screwing who on T.V. Idolizing the latest movie stars, eating well and enjoying themselves without consideration of the realities of their existence.

I believe it was Steinbeck who said that all that was needed to bring down a nation was to give it’s occupants everything that they wanted.

KEEP SHOPPING!!!

After reading farther in this posting I find that I was unfair to you. You later posted:

“I just swallowed my pride and read it.... And so what does the ACLU suggest we do about the rampant abuse of civil liberties by Homeland Security?”

and I applaud your swallowing your pride in an attempt to understand something instead of just going off viscerally as I did when I read your initial post.

SPLC, ACLU (which was founded incidentally by Helen Keller), OWS, Kent State, Berkeley,...I could go on and on about what we can do. Unfortunately the police state has quashed every attempt by force or discrediting the participants. We’re screwed, there is nothing I know of that is going to stop the machine.

Personally I do not buy into it though and although I have to submit to the procedures at the point of entry I do not have to submit to them at internal checkpoints and I refuse to do so. Much to their consternation and my inconvenience.

That is but one thing I do, there are many more and a lot of jail time for peacefully resisting for a very long time. Incidentally, I did not advocate peace demonstrations until I was honorably discharged from the military and after what I saw and the reasons why we were doing what we were doing to other countries and their peoples. We are doing them even more and more atrociously now and to our own people also.

Because of my actions I feel better about myself and my lack of hypocrisy is refreshing to me.

"There's no telling how many wars it will take to secure freedom in the homeland." --George W. Bush

soulpatch - 5-10-2012 at 11:42 AM

My family and I have been needlessly treated unprofessionally by more than one of these knuckleheads.
I have been amazed that their supervisors don't drop a serious hammer on them.
To get a result from a complaint I filed I actually had to go to their PIO to get any traction and I told him I was going to circulate a specific agents name through all media and public safety websites as possible.
I, shortly thereafter, got a call from the district supervisor and he and I had a number of productive conversations detailing agent contact and follow up.
That was a number of years ago, though, and things seem as if they are worse now.
I am grateful the ACLU is out there fighting for us.

woody with a view - 5-10-2012 at 12:26 PM

they suck! my experience last week was the worst in a long time. they sent 7 agents to surround my wife and i asking us rapid fire questions seperately. one guy asked me if my wife's story would match mine and i told him i didn't know because he hadn't asked her anything yet (she was busy with another guy at the time)....

they are very aggressive and it must be a biatch to have to live with one of them when they get home all high strung on power.....

Cypress - 5-10-2012 at 12:45 PM

They've got a tuff job! Dealing with everything and anything. What would you rather have, Border Patrol going through your stuff or banditos taking your stuff? :lol:

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cypress
They've got a tuff job! Dealing with everything and anything. What would you rather have, Border Patrol going through your stuff or banditos taking your stuff? :lol:

That is a ridiculous analogy.

They ARE the banditos.

Cypress - 5-10-2012 at 12:57 PM

Cisco,

willardguy - 5-10-2012 at 01:00 PM

I don't get it. we have someone going to bat for us, why the controversy? :rolleyes:

Cypress - 5-10-2012 at 01:11 PM

willardguy, Whiners! They'll complain and whine. :yes:

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by soulpatch
My family and I have been needlessly treated unprofessionally by more than one of these knuckleheads.
I have been amazed that their supervisors don't drop a serious hammer on them.
To get a result from a complaint I filed I actually had to go to their PIO to get any traction and I told him I was going to circulate a specific agents name through all media and public safety websites as possible.
I, shortly thereafter, got a call from the district supervisor and he and I had a number of productive conversations detailing agent contact and follow up.
That was a number of years ago, though, and things seem as if they are worse now.
I am grateful the ACLU is out there fighting for us.

Your post really surprised me, thanks for taking time to share that and one of the responses that can get to these people. Get on their butts by golly, particularly yourself who is in a helping/safety job.

Yes, things are worse now and have been since an attitude of "we can do anything we want now" has been instituted by the Patriot Act.

The "OLD" days are gone, we have a different set of priorities as a nation today.

Regarding the "OLD" days. When I was falling out of the Wagon Wheel in Santee (where there used to be a corner going to Lakeside) someone burned down the "head shop" in that little row of stores (still there???) just east of the lake.

My goodness, how many years ago??? But they were not going to have a head shop in their town.

motoged - 5-10-2012 at 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sancho
I guess being an Gringo Caucasian has some
benefits

Ya know....the "privilege " of being a white male is slowly deteriorating.

Get used to it.....the majority of folks on this planet aren't white males.

The new world order :light:

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
If they do this stuff to people entering legally, imagine what they do to those entering illegally. :rolleyes:

US urged to complete probe of 2010 border death.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/18254225/us-urged-to-complete-prob...

CortezBlue - 5-10-2012 at 03:27 PM

The last time I came through I was pulled from my car and a female office sexually abused me.

When I go back through over Memorial Day, I hope I can find her lane again.

:biggrin:

Dang, I hate it when that happens

thebajarunner - 5-10-2012 at 03:53 PM

Which crossing, by the way??

Cisco - 5-10-2012 at 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CortezBlue
The last time I came through I was pulled from my car and a female office sexually abused me.

When I go back through over Memorial Day, I hope I can find her lane again.

:biggrin:

Are you a Guy???

If so that's unusual for the BorderGirlFriend...

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cisco

Quote:

Originally posted by ateo
If they do this stuff to people entering legally, imagine what they do to those entering illegally. :rolleyes:

US urged to complete probe of 2010 border death.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/18254225/us-urged-to-complete-prob...

Yep. I have an old friend who became border patrol in 2007. He brags about the crazy stuff agents do to people coming across the southern border. He called them "donkers". Apparently the term comes from the sound a flashlight makes when it hits the head of an illegal - "donk". Pretty sick, especially cuz he's married to a Mexican.

mes1952 - 5-10-2012 at 05:57 PM

I find that the younger agents are much nicer than the older ones whom tend to be about 40% of them rednecks. In general, I get much better treatment from the Mexicans.

BajaBlanca - 5-10-2012 at 06:18 PM

woody - sorry to hear about your ordeal.

and sorry that people are getting abused .... I can't even imagine how my hubby would react in bad situation like that .... it would not be pretty ....

LancairDriver - 5-10-2012 at 06:33 PM

The DHS recently let a contract to ATK on March 5th for 450 MILLION rounds of 40 Cal. hollow point ammunition. They have also ordered a large quantity of bullet proof portable booths. Check points? Papers please? Obviously things are changing rapidly and who knows what is coming. This of course does not include military or local and state police departments who buy their own ammo.
I know, I know, they have to protect our borders and keep us all safe and if you have nothing to hide why worry. Still, 450 Million rounds flying around is a lot of lead.

Ateo - 5-10-2012 at 06:34 PM

I'm sure there are many others that didn't say anything about their mistreatment. I understand these guys have a tough job standing in that booth all day but no one deserves to be treated like an animal.

I think the border patrol should give respect to get respect.

soulpatch - 5-10-2012 at 06:57 PM

There is a bigger issue at play where the majority of the workers are decent people.
The issue arises when there are a few boneheads that really paint the rest of them in a poor fashion.
For a decent agent to do the right thing and finger a bad agent that decent agent paints him/herself forever in the agency as being a b-tch..... there is no reward and massive amounts of alienation... it is a bad system and is not unique in any way.
I have, personally, tried to bring to my "superiors" guys who come in drunk or abuse coke, whatever, and have paid a price for it... I could give a chit. However, those occurrences did hinder my upward mobility.
Old school guys can be worse but these lily-white people they have to be when they finally pass background now is so weird that, in my and my older co-workers opinion, they are not normal and they have quite the strange behavioral expectations and judgement for those they interact with professionally.
They can be off the hook jack-asses and completely out of touch with who comprises a serious threat and who is just a normal human that could use a touch of slack...
We are getting closer and closer to the jack-booters that we used to express disdain for and went to war against....
I guess a lot of it is ignorance.

Also, to address those that say they are doing nothing wrong so they have nothing to fear...
You can now be held indefinitely with no cause..... indefinitely... thanks to the Patriot Act that Obama has not dis-avowed.... no POTUS gives up power...
So, just pee of the wrong agent and you can get seriously stuck in the system.

Oops, grammar and spelling! call the police!

[Edited on 5-11-2012 by soulpatch]

mojo_norte - 5-10-2012 at 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
they suck! my experience last week was the worst in a long time. they sent 7 agents to surround my wife and i asking us rapid fire questions seperately. one guy asked me if my wife's story would match mine and i told him i didn't know because he hadn't asked her anything yet (she was busy with another guy at the time)....

they are very aggressive and it must be a biatch to have to live with one of them when they get home all high strung on power.....

They Suck! past 10 years I get sent to secondary and hassled every time. Otay's seems to be the worst- Tecate's a bit more mellow- but it's a major deterrent to making the trip.

CortezBlue - 5-10-2012 at 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cisco

Quote:

Are you a Guy???

Let me check................................................................................................................................................. ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ...................................................................................................................................................... ..............................................I think so???

It's either a really big clitoris or a very small penis??

/quote]

[Edited on 5-11-2012 by CortezBlue]

woody with a view - 5-10-2012 at 08:19 PM

that looks exactly like a penis, only smaller!

and no, i'm not a gynecologist, but i'll have a look!!!!

:wow:

BajaNomad - 5-10-2012 at 09:06 PM

And with that, I'd say this thread has run its course. :biggrin:

Yes, taking privilege here before closing this thread - with this thought/reminder:

"The exception is the perception"