A complaint filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union accused U.S. Border Patrol agents of plundering immigrants of their possessions, and then deporting them to Mexico empty-handed.
The ACLU, along with other advocacy groups, filed the complaint with the Department of Homeland Security Wednesday.
The complaint outlines 26 cases where Border Patrol or ICE agents in the El Paso Border Patrol sector were accused of taking immigrants’ belongings and failed to ever give them back.
The ACLU said it’s not only illegal but also puts people’s lives at risk.
“We are basically robbing them of their personal belongings,” said Vicki Gaubeca, director of the ACLU’s Regional Center for Border Rights.
In one case listed in the complaint, Border Patrol agents arrested a 23-year-old Mexican national in the desert near El Paso back in February.
He was deported and – according to the complaint – never got back his clothing, wallet, or more than $300 he had on him at the time of his arrest.
The complaint lists cases over the past year where migrants have been deported, but never got back items like jewelry, cellphones, or id’s.
“Imagine what it would be like to be in a town that you don’t know without your id or your cell phone,” said Gaubeca.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said, “DHS will review the complaint. DHS has strict standards in place to ensure that detainees’ personal property – including funds, baggage and other effects – is safeguarded and controlled while they are in detention and returned to them when they are released from CBP/ICE custody or removed from the United States. Any allegation of missing property will be thoroughly investigated.”
For a link to the full report filed by the ACLU, click here.
