{"id":265403,"date":"2017-01-08T20:27:09","date_gmt":"2017-01-09T03:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=265403"},"modified":"2017-01-21T18:42:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-22T01:42:43","slug":"trumps-pick-for-homeland-security-is-inheriting-a-border-agency-known-for-human-rights-abuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/01\/trumps-pick-for-homeland-security-is-inheriting-a-border-agency-known-for-human-rights-abuses\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s pick for Homeland Security is inheriting a border agency known for human rights abuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

COMMENTARY:<\/strong>\u00a0On Tuesday<\/a>, retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, President-elect Trump\u2019s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security, will go before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for his confirmation hearing. If confirmed, Gen. Kelly will inherit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): the largest federal law enforcement agency and infamous for its abusive and lawless practices.<\/p>\n

One question before committee members then is whether Gen. Kelly will check the agency\u2019s worst practices or only make them worse.<\/p>\n

\"Vicki

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Vicki B. Gaubeca<\/p><\/div>\n

As the former head of U.S. Southern Command under President Obama, Gen. Kelly was known for his hawkish and alarmist stances on\u00a0border security<\/a>. His limited\u00a0comments<\/a>\u00a0before Congress on border enforcement have solely framed Southwest border communities \u2014 my community \u2014 as a threat to national security. Such a narrow view overlooks the vital economic and cultural\u00a0contributions<\/a>\u00a0and unprecedented\u00a0public safety<\/a>\u00a0of border cities like San Diego and El Paso.<\/p>\n

Of equal concern, however, is Gen. Kelly\u2019s full-throated\u00a0endorsement<\/a>\u00a0from the Border Patrol\u2019s union, whose\u00a0resistance<\/a>\u00a0to use-of-force reforms emphasizing protection of human life could further threaten the constitutional rights and safety of the 15 million people who call this region home.<\/p>\n

If he were to follow through and increase the militarization of the Southwest border, Gen. Kelly would further empower CBP, particularly its Border Patrol, and therefore threaten the constitutional rights of the region\u2019s residents even more than they already are. For instance, if Gen. Kelly accepts the Border Patrol union\u2019s military-style policing philosophy, the likely result would be even more unaccountable deaths at the hands of CBP agents.<\/p>\n

Of the 50 individuals killed since 2010, 19 were U.S. citizens.\u00a0Six were people standing on Mexican soil<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 including three teenagers \u2014 when shot and killed by Border Patrol agents standing in the United States. No agent has been held accountable since January 2010 in any of the on-duty deaths caused by excessive force. In only one case,\u00a0an agent is currently facing<\/a>\u00a0federal charges of homicide in Arizona for shooting a teenager in Mexico in the back at least 10 times.<\/p>\n

Use of excessive force and other abuses are direct consequences of the U.S. government\u2019s decades-long, unprecedented investment in federal law enforcement resources and personnel to guard our borders \u2014 with a particular emphasis on the border with Mexico. This expansive growth came with minimal oversight and negligible accountability, resulting in CBP officials perpetrating human and civil rights violations against asylum seekers, immigrants and U.S. citizens without consequence.<\/p>\n

The list of Border Patrol abuses is long and includes\u00a0corruption and misconduct<\/a>,\u00a0racial profiling and harassment<\/a>,\u00a0unreasonable searches and seizures<\/a>,\u00a0warrantless stops and invasive questioning<\/a>\u00a0at checkpoints and during roving patrols far away from any border, and\u00a0deporting people to Mexico without their cell phones, IDs, or money<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CBP\u2019s abuse has resulted in several successful lawsuits brought by the ACLU and partner organizations. Such is the case of\u00a0Doe v. Johnson,<\/em>\u00a0a class action lawsuit\u00a0against DHS officials challenging conditions in Border Patrol holding cells<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 specifically overcrowding, extreme cold, unsanitary conditions, denial of sleep, lack of medical screening and care, and deprivation of food and water. In November, Judge David C. Bury\u00a0ordered\u00a0the Border Patrol to immediately begin providing any detainee held for more than 12 hours with a mattress as well as basic necessities and the opportunity to clean themselves.<\/p>\n

In addition, the ACLU along with key coalition partners put public pressure on CBP to develop a new\u00a0use of force handbook<\/a>\u00a0and new\u00a0national standards<\/a>\u00a0that, for the first time, established minimum, although still inadequate, detention conditions. But the agency still has to implement major reforms like deploying body-worn cameras with adequate privacy protections and improved training and performance measures to prevent further abuse and unnecessary injury and deaths.<\/p>\n

The American people deserve a 21st Century border \u2014 one that honors the vital economic and cultural contributions of border communities to the nation. That means instituting commonsense border policies that uphold the dignity of border residents and instill transparency, accountability and oversight for CBP. While Gen. Kelly is in the hot seat during his confirmation hearing, Congress should press him on key priority issues at DHS:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Will he issue a ban on profiling in the border region that has been bolstered by robust data collection and public reporting on stops, searches and arrests to guard against racially biased abuse?<\/li>\n
  2. Will he reduce CBP\u2019s enforcement\u00a0footprint far from the actual borders<\/a>, which disrupts residents’ daily lives without making an effective contribution to border security?<\/li>\n
  3. Will he enact urgent reforms to establish functioning and transparent complaint and disciplinary systems to contain, reduce and deter corruption and abusive behavior?<\/li>\n
  4. Will he enact fundamental reforms to end the shameful mistreatment and inhumane conditions of individuals held in short-term custody by improving the standards and inspection of these facilities, including outside audits?<\/li>\n
  5. Will CBP work to prevent the deaths of migrants who cross our border in dangerous and remote areas as a result of our misguided border enforcement policies?<\/li>\n
  6. Will the agency ensure that American values as well as international\/domestic legal protections are meaningful for those seeking refuge at our borders?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Gen. Kelly\u00a0once stated<\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cprotection of human rights is… our best defense against losing legitimacy in the hearts and minds of the people we have taken an oath to protect.\u201d Members of the Senate homeland security committee should press Gen. Kelly to make sure his concern for human rights includes America\u2019s border communities.<\/p>\n

    Vicki B. Gaubeca<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0director of the ACLU of New Mexico\u2019s Regional Center for Border Rights.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Congress needs to make sure Gen. Kelly will reform Customs and Border Protection to prevent civil rights abuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":276073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[140,3282,3307,116],"class_list":["post-265403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-border-and-immigration","tag-border-patrol","tag-donald-trump","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}