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Report reveals repeated Racial Profiling by Northern Border
Patrol
New York City / Detroit, November 2011: A report released by the
New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic (NYU),
the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and Families for
Freedom (FFF) systematically confirms reports of northern border
patrol agents engaged in pervasive racial profiling
during sweeps of domestic train and bus lines in upstate New
York. The majority of these sweeps occurred far away from the
Canadian border, on domestic bus and rail lines that stayed
entirely within the US.
“This new data demonstrates clearly what we´ve seen all across
the Northern Border- Border Patrol is more interested in arrest
rates and scare tactics than in effective law enforcement,” said
Nadia Tonova, Director of the National Network for Arab
American Communities at ACCESS, “Targeting individuals based on
race is unacceptable and ineffective. In America, you shouldn´t
have to fear interrogation by a government agent just because
the way you look.”
Despite their declared purpose of protecting the Canadian
border, 73 percent of those detained were from Latin America.
89 percent of those arrested by Border Patrol were reported as
of “medium,” “dark” or “black” complexion.
The experience of Professor Torres Saillant, a US citizen
who teaches at Syracuse University, was typical. He described
being questioned numerous times on domestic Greyhound buses in
New York. Professor Saillant reported that Border Patrol agents
instructed him that he needed to “carry his papers,” and would
single out only the Latino passengers on the bus for
questioning.
Customs and Border Protection initially refused to release the
requested information as provided by the Freedom of Information
Act, which forced community groups to sue the federal government
for access.
Unconfirmed reports have since surfaced indicating the Border
Patrol may have abandoned the problematic searches along the
Northern Border due to public pressure.
“We’re glad to hear that the federal government may have
recognized the deep civil rights problems of mass transit
sweeps. However, this issue isn’t about a single policy—it’s
about an agency that is simply out of control. From New York to
Washington, we’ve documented patterns of abuse, harassment, and
humiliation in all manner of Border Patrol operations. Customs
and Border Protection needs a major shake-up to ensure that
they’re spending our tax dollars on law enforcement, not on
profiling and abuse,” said Lidia Reyes Flores, Director
of Latino Family Services in Detroit.
The full report is available at:
http://www.nyclu.org/files/publications/NYCLU_justicederailedweb.pdf
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