Defending Civil Liberties at the Border

Millions of people who live and work along our nation's borders—from New York to Arizona, Washington State to Texas—are living in increasingly militarized areas where they are stopped, harassed and treated in ways the U.S. Constitution does not permit.

The growing militarization of the border regions under our nation's largest law enforcement agency – Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—is assaulting our rights and creating a zone where CBP acts as a "Constitution-free agency." In a massive area of the country, people are routinely stopped, interrogated and even searched without a warrant or any suspicion of any wrongdoing, in violation of the Constitution.

Rancher John Ladd used to cooperate with the Border Patrol, but he and other ranchers are fed up with Border Patrol agents patrolling their land at will, cutting through fences, and even running over valuable cattle.

On a backcountry road, Clarisa Christiansen was threatened with a taser and knife by Border Patrol agents while her two terrified children watched from the backseat.

A Vietnam vet and former prison guard, Larry Kirschenman thought he had the right to ask what probable cause U.S. border agents had to search his vehicle. Larry wound up in the hospital with serious injuries.

When rights violations by the Border Patrol turn deadly, in almost every case the victims have been Latinos. Among the most egregious cases of deadly violence by border agents was the brutal beating of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, who left behind a bereaved wife and five US-born children. A dozen immigration officials surrounded, beat and tased Hernandez while he lay hog-tied on the ground at the San Ysidro border station. A bystander captured the beating on a cell phone video -- a disturbing scene that contradicts agents’ claims that the fatal beating was in self-defense. Watch the PBS news report to learn more about his tragic story.

Customs & Border Protection (CBP), the agency in charge of the Border Patrol, does not make public any internal investigation into incidents involving used of force, not even to the families of victims like Anastasio Hernandez Rojas. No CBP agents are known to have ever been disciplined for excessive use of force.