Human rights abuses from U.S. border agents rampant: reporti

Xinhua, August 4, 2023

U.S. border patrol agents frequently treat migrants poorly and that Customs and Border Protec (CBP), the county's largest law enforcement agency, has systemic problems, The Hill on Wednesday cited a report from two human rights nonprofits.

"(CBP) has a persistent problem of human rights abuse without accountability," said the report compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Kino Border Initiative (KBI).

"The frequency and severity of abuse allegations indicate that a substantial number of officers and agents don't meet that standard," it noted.

A WOLA database has listed more than 400 incidents of abuses against migrants encountered by CBP in the field or in custody since 2020, including physical violence, withholding of food and medicine and racial profiling.

Most cases of abuse go unreported, it emphasized.

"Most of the cases ... would have gone completely unknown without reporting from victims and those, outside of government, who accompany them. That such abuses are happening so frequently at CBP and Border Patrol indicates that DHS's accountability system has done little to dissuade or disincentivize them," added the report.