The stories don’t make national headlines, but every day residents of border communities face warrantless stops and searches, destruction of private property, and physical abuse from Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. The worst part is that right now there is no clear, effective complaint process for reporting these violations and holding the perpetrators accountable.
In recent years, our federal government has massively ramped up spending on enforcement in the name of “border security,” turning border communities into militarized zones.
But right now, we have a major opportunity to change that. President Obama has sworn in Jeh Johnson as the new secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—the federal department in charge of CBP— and he has pledged reform. So now is the time for civil liberties supporters to stand together and demand common-sense regulations that rein in runaway abuse.
Join me and sign the petition to President Obama and Secretary Jeh Johnson asking for implementation of a strong, transparent, investigation and complaints mechanism to hold CBP accountable for abuses:
https://www.aclu.org/secure/hold_border_patrol_accountable?ms=oth_acluaction_140325_borderpatrol_yt
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