Border Hindrance: ACLU of Texas report criticizes Border Patrol

By VALERIE GONZALEZ and GARY LONG | Staff Writers

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas on Tuesday criticized the Border Patrol for disrupting daily life on the U.S.-Mexico border and urged federal, state and local governments to spend more on programs and infrastructure that meet the needs of border communities.

The ACLU of Texas released a report titled “The Harms of Border Patrol on Daily Life Along the Texas Border,” which documents the results of interviews with about 150 people in the Rio Grande Valley, the majority from Brownsville.

The report criticizes the border’s militarization and calls on federal, state and local policymakers to “reduce the presence of Border Patrol in border communities and to limit their interference with residents’ daily lives.”

Esmeralda Ybarra, a promotora working through the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, helped conduct the interviews on which the report is based. Promotoras provide education to the community about mental health, nutrition “and whatever the community needs,” she said.

Ybarra said people she interviewed for the report especially expressed fears about Border Patrol agents being around schools.

“The little ones get so stressed about I don’t know if my mom or my dad are going to be in the house when I get back,” she said. “We have many schools around the border, so its more stressful for them. We have many schools less than a half-mile from the border. The kids think school’s a safe place for us, but when they see a lot of Border Patrol and police officer presence they get scared,” Ybarra said.

The press conference where the report was released took place on Southmost Boulevard in Brownsville, blocks from Southmost Elementary and a medical clinic where some of the behavior that respondees complained about took place, organizers said.

Attendees listen as the report findings are shared with them by representatives from the ACLU of Texas Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, during a press conference by the ACLU of Texas about the negative impact of U.S. Border Patrol agents on daily life along the Texas-Mexico border held in Brownsville. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

THE REPORT

One interviewee shared how her nephew’s encounter with Border Patrol was financially and emotionally difficult for the family.

The report was compiled by interviewing about 150 people from September 2021 to May 2022 in the Rio Grande Valley. The majority lived in Brownsville and included people who were citizens, residents or preferred not to disclose their status.

Participants indicated they felt uneasy with Border Patrol presence at schools, hospitals, grocery stores, community centers, polling places and other outdoor public spaces like parks.

“In fact, 61% of interviewees stated that they avoided going to one or more of these essential locations due to a fear of Border Patrol presence,” the report stated.

Some people felt their routines were interrupted, their mental health impacted, and their ability to financially provide for themselves and their families were curtailed.

“One interviewee shared how her nephew’s encounter with Border Patrol was financially and emotionally difficult for the family,” the report shared. “Though he was in the process of adjusting his immigration status, Border Patrol stopped him at a gas station and he was detained for three months. During this time, his wife had to sell plates of food to pay for a lawyer and support the family.”

Results also demonstrated residents fear seeking medical attention and public safety services, too.

“Some 34% of interviewees said they have avoided going to the hospital due to fear of encountering Border Patrol. This concern is not unfounded; more than 90 interviewees reported seeing Border Patrol agents in hospitals,” the report added. “About 55% of interviewees reported that they did not reach out to local police to report a crime due to concerns that the police would call Border Patrol agents to the scene.”

Copies of a report in English detailing the harm of U.S. Border Patrol agents on daily life for border communities are arranged on a table of attendees to take Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, during a press conference by the ACLU of Texas about the negative impact of U.S. Border Patrol agents on daily life along the Texas-Mexico border held in Brownsville. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

A woman said she endured years of domestic abuse in a relationship, because she feared calling police and having Border Patrol show up, too.

Border Patrol stops were also common interactions by those who participated in the survey. Several said they were stopped without cause, including a woman who was stopped for having her headlights off during the day.

You need to establish a report that begins to show patterns and practices. If you show patterns and practices, then there might be some systemic piece within the agency.

About 22% of interviewees said they were less likely to drive after a traffic stop encounter with Border Patrol.

“Border residents need policy interventions to reduce these harmful encounters. We thus call on federal, state, and local policymakers to reduce the presence of Border Patrol in border communities, and to limit their interference with residents’ daily lives,” the report concluded.

The ACLU of Texas suggested changes at the federal, state and local level.

They recommend reducing the number of agents in the region, ensuring the agency complies with constitutional protections, and ensuring accountability and transparency in operations. They also encouraged Border Patrol’s compliance with Department of Homeland Security guidelines limiting enforcement actions in or near schools, hospitals, and other areas requiring specific protection, and considered expanding the guidelines to cover other essential locations.

On a state level, the ACLU of Texas said the state legislature should: reject proposals to expand Border Patrol’s authority under state criminal law; consider implementing state-specific measures to ensure accountability and transparency regarding entanglement between state law enforcement officials and Border Patrol; invest resources in programs and infrastructure that meet border community needs; and, reject further funding of state and federal law enforcement in border communities.

Locally, legal advocates are asking constituents to share the message with federal and state policymakers about the disruption they’ve experienced in border communities and the effects to their safety, financial and medical well-being. They also reiterated their call to discourage local officials from accepting funding of state and federal law enforcement in border communities.

Maria Cordero, policy and advocacy strategist for ACLU of Texas, addresses the crowd about the report’s findings alongside attorney Bernardo Rafael Cruz Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, during a press conference by the ACLU of Texas about the negative impact of U.S. Border Patrol agents on daily life along the Texas-Mexico border held in Brownsville. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

Rogelio Nunez, founder of the immigrant advocacy organization Projecto Libertad in Harlingen, said the fears respondees expressed in the report about Border Patrol are real.

He said Projecto Libertad put together a training manual in the early 1990s for conducting interviews about perceived abuses by law enforcement.

“You need to establish a report that begins to show patterns and practices. If you show patterns and practices, then there might be some systemic piece within the agency,” he said of the process.

The ACLU report came in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, which deploys state resources to stem illegal immigration

“Abbott now at the state level uses DPS. He uses the National Guard. And then, of course, he uses Border Patrol, and he uses those state agencies to say, ‘I’m against being invaded.’ And now, they’re tacking on fentanyl as an immigrant problem. No. Fentanyl is an issue, but it has nothing to do with coming to the United States to make a living,” Nunez said.


To see more, view Brownsville Herald photojournalist Denise Cathey’s full photo gallery here: 

Photo Gallery: ACLU of Texas report criticizes Border Patrol

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