Featured Issue: Conditions in CBP Custody

Conditions in CBP custody are notorious for their harshness and inadequacies. Whether inside or in outside holding “pens,” CBP detains migrants in dangerous conditions. These facilities can be dangerously overcrowded, migrants forced to wear soiled or dripping wet clothes for days, and the only “hot meal” offered are frozen burritos. These conditions came to the forefront when in 2019, children, many of whom were Indigenous children, died in CBP custody. Until the U.S. embraces a welcoming and more humane approach to receiving people at our border, suffering and the loss of life will continue.

Overlaying these conditions is the problem of the lack of accountability and oversight mechanisms for CBP. A Human Rights Watch report based on U.S. government documents detailed hundreds of internal reports of misconduct and serious abuse of asylum seekers at the hands of government officials at the border.  These abuses included allegations of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, due process violations, harsh detention conditions, denial of medical care, and discriminatory treatment at or near the border. However, it is rare that individual officers or CBP leadership face consequences. For example, a recent House Committee on Oversight and Reform report revealed how little CBP did to discipline agents who posted violent and offensive Facebook posts.

Our country’s inability to hold CBP accountable for their actions towards people and children in their custody result in repeated grave violations of human rights at our southern border. Immediate and significant reform is needed to hold the U.S.’ largest law enforcement agency accountable.

Government Announcements | Government Reports | Congressional Action | AILA Resources | Responses and Resources from Advocates | Media Response

Government Announcements

• Deaths in CBP Custody
  
  • AILA provides a continually updated list of press releases announcing deaths in CBP custody, deaths occurring in agent-involved incidents, and other migrant deaths on the border.
• CBP Issues Guidance on Care in Custody for Pregnant, Postpartum, Nursing Individuals, and Infants - November 29, 2021
• CBP Releases Data on Increase in Medical Emergencies on the Southern Border – December 31, 2018
• CBP Releases Interim Procedures on Notification of a Death in Custody – December 17, 2018

Government Reports

• U.S. House of Representatives Report: Border Patrol Agents in Secret Facebook Group Faced Few Consequences for Misconduct - October 2021
  • A strongly (and explicitly) worded report from the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued on October 25, details the disciplinary process following 2019 revelations of a secret Facebook page at which CBP personnel posted racist, violent, and lewd content. The Committee discovered that for most involved, consequences were light: they “had their discipline significantly reduced and continued to work with migrants.”
• DHS OIG Says CBP Did Not Adequately Oversee FY2019 Appropriated Humanitarian Funding – September 28, 2020
• DHS OIG Issues Report on Early Experiences with COVID-19 at CBP Border Patrol Stations and OFO Ports of Entry – September 4, 2020
• DHS OIG Says CBP Should Award a Medical Services Contract Quickly to Ensure No Gap in Service – September 3, 2020
• DHS OIG Finds Five Texas CBP Facilities Generally Complied with National TEDS Standards – September 1, 2020
• DHS Inspector General Testifies on Children in CBP Custody - July 15, 2020
• GAO Says CBP Needs to Increase Oversight of Funds, Medical Care, and Reporting of Deaths – July 14, 2020
• DHS OIG Reports That CBP Struggled to Provide Adequate Detention Conditions During 2019 Migrant Surge - June 12, 2020
• GAO Says CBP Misused Appropriations for Food and Medical Care for Migrants – June 11, 2020
• GAO Releases Report on CBP’s Management of a Temporary Detention Facility in Texas - April 9, 2020
• DHS OIG Finds No Misconduct or Malfeasance by DHS Personnel in Death of Seven-Year-Old Guatemalan Child in CBP Custody – December 20, 2019
• DHS OIG Finds No Misconduct or Malfeasance by DHS Personnel in Death of Eight-Year-Old Guatemalan Child in CBP Custody – December 20, 2019
• DHS OIG Issues Report on Training Needs for Hiring 15,000 Border Patrol Agents and Immigration Officers – November 26, 2018

Congressional Action

• New Mexico Delegation Demands Oversight Hearing on Death of Seven-Year old Child in CBP Custody

AILA Resources

• Policy Brief: Protect Children by Ending Family Detention and Separation

Responses and Resources from Advocates

• Human Rights Watch: They Treat You Like You Are Worthless: Internal DHS Reports of Abuse by U.S. Border Officials - October 21, 2021
  • Human Rights Watch released a new report based on U.S. government documents detailing over 160 internal reports of misconduct and abuse of asylum seekers at the hands of officials at the border, primarily between 2016 and 2021. Though heavily redacted, the records, which Human Rights Watch obtained after litigation under FOIA, include allegations of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse, due process violations, harsh detention conditions, denial of medical care, and discriminatory treatment at or near the border.
• Advocacy Groups Update Website Exposing Border-Related Abuse and Litigation – July 6, 2020
• Deprivation of Medical Care to Children in CBP Custody – September 4, 2019
• Southern Border Communities Coalition: Deaths by Border Patrol Since 2010
• Center for Migration Studies: Immigration Authorities Systemically Deny Medical Care for Migrants Who Speak Indigenous Languages – December 21, 2018
• American immigration Council’s Immigration Impact: How to Prevent More Deaths in Border Patrol Custody – December 17, 2018
• ACLU Report on Neglect and Abuse of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children by CBP – May 23, 2018
• Human Rights Way: Systemic Indifference: Dangerous and Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention – May 8, 2017
• American Immigration Council: Photo Exhibits in Doe v. Johnson

Media Response

• Los Angeles Times: Border Patrol holds migrants for days under a south Texas bridge - March 24, 2021
• Los Angeles Times: Immigration Officials Bought Dirt Bikes and Boats Instead of Food and Medicine, Report Says - June 11, 2020
• Politico: 'Black hole' of medical records contributes to deaths, mistreatment at the border – December 1, 2019
• The Washington Post: CDC recommended that migrants receive flu vaccine, but CBP rejected the idea - November 26, 2019
• Newsweek: Trump Administration Ignored Offer of Free Flu Clinic for Migrants Despite Child Deaths, Physicians Say – November 20, 2019
• Buzzfeed News: Investigators Found Immigrant Kids And Families Locked In Disgusting Conditions In Border Camps - June 26, 2019
• ABC News: CBP Says It's Not Low on Supplies After Claims of "Appalling" Conditions for Migrant Children - June 25, 2019
• CBS News: Incoming CBP Chief Denies "Systemic Problem" at Migrant Detention Facilities - June 25, 2019
• ABC News: Doctor Compares Conditions for Children at Immigrant Holding Centers to "Torture Facilities" - June 24, 2019
• Huffington Post: Guatemalan Teen Becomes 5th Migrant Child To Die After Being Detained By Border Patrol - May 20, 2019
• CNN: Another migrant has died in CBP custody - the 4th in recent months - May 19, 2019
• CNN: Another migrant has died in CBP custody – the 4th in recent months – March 19, 2019
• Immigration Impact: A Second Child Died in Border Patrol Custody. Why Is the Government Doubling Down on Deterrence? - January 2, 2019
• New York Times: ‘A Breaking Point’: Second Child’s Death Prompts New Procedures for Border Agency – December 26, 2018
• Politico: Nielsen deflects blame for boy's death in Border Patrol custody – December 26, 2018
• Washington Post: Migrant boy dies in U.S. custody; Trump vows shutdown will last until border wall is funded – December 26, 2018
• CBS News: “We need a different approach," says CBP chief after 2nd migrant child dies in U.S. custody – December 26, 2018
• NBC News: Guatemalan boy, 8, dies in immigration custody after being diagnosed with a cold – December 25, 2018

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 18122608.