In the extremely polarized political culture that we reside in there are times when advocates like to brand anything associated with immigration enforcement as the enemy, such as Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It is my opinion that the majority of the time immigration enforcement agencies under DHS are often subject to the will of the executive and legislative branches. I am a firm believer that the majority of the men and women who serve in these necessary agencies are well intentioned individuals who are just trying to do their jobs. However, this is not the case all of the time. Recently there has been a lot of coverage over some of the more questionable practices by immigration enforcement agencies.
The Border Patrol Critical Incidents Team is a now infamous department within Border Patrol that was tasked with investigating instances that involved Border Patrol agents. According to a presentation to Congress delivered by the advocacy group the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) and documents released to congress, the teams would become involved in instances that included “death, serious bodily injury, significant property damage, or other exposure to significant civil liability.” As stated in the Washington Post, another document says that the units also can intervene in cases that could draw “large media attention.”
SBCC explained the mission of the teams was “the mitigation of civil liability” or protecting CBP and its personnel from litigation. The advocacy group in their presentation to congress made it clear that the function and mission of Border Patrol Critical Incident Teams is not that of an ‘internal affair’ division found in a police station. Instead of being impartial investigators into agency incidents, the team is protecting the agency and its members from punishment for abusive behaviors.
With such a blatant twist in priorities the unit’s investigations often led to the vilification of those who suffer death or injury by Border Patrol agents according to SBCC and its network of agencies who monitor Border Patrol related deaths. The coalition sent a letter to congressional leaders in 2021 asking for congress to investigate the teams citing decades of abuse without consequence.
Last January, the Government Accountability Office was asked by five congressional committees to investigate the team’s role in CBP. Concurrently chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie G Thomson (D-Miss), informed Commissioner Magnus by letter that they had launched investigations into the teams and whether or not they “have interfered with criminal, civil, or administrative investigations of the use of force by Border Patrol agents to protect these agents from being held accountable for potentially serious misconduct.”
Now under pressure from both Congress and advocacy groups CBP has announced the termination of the Border Patrol’s Critical Incident Teams. CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus stated in a May 3rd memo that by Oct. 1st the Border Patrol will have eliminated all Critical Incident Teams. Despite the teams dibanding, Rep. Thomson stated that congress will continue its investigations into the team’s past records.
CBP is not the only agency that has recently received attention; ICE is under fire for a systematic practice of releasing migrants from detention who are near death in order to avoid counting them in their deaths in detention reports.
As part of an ongoing lawsuit by the L.A. Times against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking records of abuse at immigration detention centers, the news organization received over 16,000 pages in documents disclosing the release and deaths of individuals in ICE detention.
One such example was Medina Leon, who’s name is not counted as one of the eight deaths in ICE’s records. The L.A. Times reports that Leon was in desperate need of medical attention, but processing was slow to accommodate her, taking six weeks to send her to a doctor. However, as her situation started to quickly deteriorate the process of her expulsion was hurried to just six hours. Release processes often take several days or weeks to complete. Leon died four days later.
This comes following the investigation by several news outlets into failure to report incidents in ICE detention facilities such as sexual misconduct and abuse of both employees and detainees. Most complaints originate from the previous administration and current heads of DHS claim to have not known about the department’s handling of its employees misconduct. Secretary Mayorkas stated he is investigating the matter now.
Medina Leon is one of several individuals named in a lawsuit against ICE by our partners at American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The group is suing ICE for access to records of detainees who died shortly after being released from ICE custody.
While we often focus on legislative reform in immigration policy, we must be clear that there has to be transparency over how our immigration agencies act as well. They must be held accountable when units or agents act in abusive and inhumane ways. The majority of the work done by these agencies is necessary and directed by other powers. We should not fault them for that. But their mission of enforcing border policies does not exempt them from accountability for their actions either.