Immigrants' Rights

The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our
Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every person, regardless of immigration status.

When the government has the power to deny legal rights and due process to one vulnerable group,
everyone’s rights are at risk. The ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project is dedicated to expanding and
enforcing the civil liberties and civil rights of immigrants and to combating public and private
discrimination against them.

Using targeted impact litigation, advocacy, and public outreach, the ACLU protects the rights and
liberties of immigrants. For more than 25 years, the ACLU has been at the forefront of almost every
major legal struggle on behalf of immigrants’ rights, focusing on challenging laws that deny
immigrants access to the courts, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and discriminate on the
basis of nationality. In addition, we have challenged constitutional abuses that arise from
immigration enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels, including anti-immigrant “show me
your papers” laws at the state level and unconstitutional enforcement tactics by the federal
government and local agencies.

https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights

ACLU Calls on Biden Administration to Address CBP Abuses at the Border

Analysis of 13 Unresolved Complaints Highlights Need to Prioritize Reform Recommendations

March 5, 2021

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas sent a letter to Secretary of
Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week chronicling 13 unresolved administrative complaints
filed with the Office of Inspector General between 2019 and 2020. The letter lays out clear
recommendations to limit CBP detention, hold its personnel accountable, and rebuild a more just and
humane asylum system. An accompanying index outlines hundreds of abuses documented by the ACLU and
partners.

“Over the last few years, we have witnessed and documented abuse, neglect, and trauma inflicted by
CBP on people simply seeking protection in the United States,” said Shaw Drake, staff attorney and
policy counsel at the ACLU of Texas. “The conditions and treatment migrants suffer at the hands of
U.S. authorities aren’t just an affront to their human rights and dignity, but to our nation’s
credibility. This is not the country we aspire to be, and we urge urgent action to rebuild a system
where people can seek safety in the United States without facing further abuse from U.S. border
agents.”

Claims outlined in the appendix of unresolved complaints include:
  * “One asylum seeker reported counting some 2,300 people sleeping outside. Many reported being
forced to sleep on the muddy, rocky ground, and in puddles of water during thunderstorms, which
were quickly followed by extreme heat, humidity and sun exposure. Families, including those with
infant children, are not provided with any bedding, mats, or chairs. They are forced to sleep on
the ground outdoors, even while raining, and are only given Mylar sheets, which are paper-thin and
look like tinfoil ... some families reported not even being provided with the Mylar sheets.”
[Appendix 3]
  * “Jennifer is a 24-year-old Honduran woman who fled to the United States with her two daughters.
She was six months pregnant when she was apprehended and detained at a Border Patrol station in May
2019 … The agent, apparently infuriated that Jennifer and her friend were speaking to each other
while awaiting processing, forcibly grabbed Jennifer by the arm and took her out of her seat. The
agent then grabbed Jennifer by the shoulders from behind and slammed her face-first against a chain
link fence three times. Jennifer attempted to shield her protruding stomach from the fence — crying
out ‘You’re hurting me! I’m pregnant!’ — yet the agent continued to throw her against the fence.”
[Appendix 8]
  * “As one person interviewed by ACLU staff stated, ‘I felt like a cockroach.’ Families report
verbal abuse by Border Patrol agents including the use of slurs such as ‘pendeja’ and ‘burra’
meaning ‘asshole’ and ‘dumbass.’ Mothers were also verbally abused when they asked for more food or
clean clothing for their children. They were told that they were responsible for their children’s
suffering because they decided to come to the United States.” [Appendix 2]

“These complaints, based on hundreds of interviews, demonstrate that CBP’s abusive treatment of
people seeking asylum and other immigrants — including pregnant women and infants — is systemic,”
said Jonathan Blazer, director of border strategies at the ACLU. “We welcome the stated commitments
of President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to implement reforms to ensure immigrants are treated
with dignity. Our documentation and analysis of what has gone so wrong in the past can serve as a
helpful guide as the new administration attempts to repair and rebuild. But as the severity of the
claims highlight, there is no time to waste.”

The letter outlined clear steps Secretary Mayorkas can take to hold CBP accountable and rebuild a
just and humane system, including:
  * Strictly limit CBP detention to the minimum period necessary for initial processing — no more
than 12 hours; transition away from CBP personnel playing a role in the processing of people
seeking asylum; and end CBP’s authority to make family separation determinations.
  * Strengthen CBP’s use-of-force standards to prohibit agents and officers from using deadly force
unless necessary, as a last resort, to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury, and only
after all reasonable alternatives have been exhausted.
  * Promptly and fully rescind Trump administration orders, rules, directives, memos, decisions,
guidance, and policies designed to restrict access to asylum at the southern border. End the use of
other policies predating the Trump administration that severely hinder access to asylum, such as
placing those seeking asylum in expedited removal and “metering” at ports of entry.
  * Return to the United States all people seeking asylum with open cases who are waiting outside
the country and release them to networks of care in the United States, on recognizance, bond, or
parole while their cases proceed.

The letter states: “It is not enough to reverse Trump-era border policies. The roots of the
problems described in this report extend to prior administrations. To address past abuses and
protect against future ones, the scope of CBP power must be curtailed, past abuses must be
investigated and those responsible must be held accountable, and true accountability mechanisms
must be entrenched throughout the agency.”
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-calls-biden-administration-address-cbp-abuses-border