Border Patrol agents work in dangerous situations which can lead to tragic consequences like the shooting death and wounding of agents in Arizona this week.  There is no justification for such violence targeting law enforcement officers.  Yet there is also a crisis regarding use-of-force by Customs and Border Protection that is severely damaging the agency’s integrity (CBP is the Border Patrol’s parent and includes officers who work at ports of entry).  The many recorded incidents of CBP fatalities and abuses demand a comprehensive, independent investigation of CBP policies and practices, as requested by members of Congress, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.  A permanent, arm’s-length oversight commission for CBP must also be created.
It’s not every day that the President of Mexico implies that an American law enforcement agent committed criminal homicide.  This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal asked “how many Americans have heard of Guillermo Arévalo Pedroza?  He was killed [in September] by a bullet fired from a U.S. Border Patrol boat while picnicking with his wife and two young girls on the south side of the Rio Grande, near Laredo, Texas.  ‘Nothing happened in the legal institutions of this country,’ [Mexican President] Calderón says with evident restraint, noting that another 14 Mexicans have been killed in roughly similar ways this year alone. ‘This father was not trying to cross the border, he was trying to pass a good day with his kids.’”
The Border Patrol agents claimed rocks were being thrown at them from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, although “[a] video posted online by a Nuevo Laredo news organization showed the shooting, but didn’t show any rock throwing.”  Reports from Laredo are that Mr. Arévalo died in the arms of his 9-year-old daughter.  Disputed facts aside, a cross-border shooting seems an inappropriate and unnecessary escalation of force.
Fatal Border Patrol shootings have occurred with dismaying frequency; others reported extensively include Juan Pablo Pérez Santillán (near Brownsville, Texas on July 7, 2012); U.S. citizen Carlos Lamadrid, 19, shot in the back three times while allegedly fleeing to Mexico (near Douglas, Arizona on March 21, 2011); and 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Guereca (near El Paso, Texas on June 7, 2010).
CBP can’t ignore systemic use-of-force problems because of pending confidential investigations into individual cases.  The agency must instead engage with the public and make clear whether or not it abides by best law enforcement practices, such as training agents to prioritize de-escalation techniques and equipping agents with protective gear that reduces their risk of injury and corresponding need to use potentially deadly force.  Moreover, CBP should explain in detail what disciplinary actions it takes for violations of use-of-force policies and what plans it has to install officer, hold room, and dashboard-mounted cameras to record its operations.  If CBP use-of-force policies and investigation protocols differ from best practices, these differences must be publicly justified.
CBP’s credibility is on the line: while the agency stays the course of silence its questionable use-of-force cases keep accumulating.  Last weekend, in San Diego, an American citizen mother of five was shot dead by a plainclothes Border Patrol agent.  The Border Patrol’s public reaction is that the agent “was carried several hundred yards [on the hood of the car] before he discharged his weapon through the windshield of the vehicle.”  Multiple published witness accounts contradict this version of events; for example, “[w]itness Ashley Guilbeau told KMFB-TV that the plainclothes agent walked toward the front of the car shooting ‘about 12 times’ without identifying himself: ‘Without her even able to say a word, I didn’t hear anything, [he] just came across and just shot at the windshield many times.’”
Earlier this year, PBS’s Need to Know featured the death in May 2010 of Anastacio Hernández Rojas, who left behind a widow and five U.S.-born children in San Diego.  PBS obtained eyewitness video of what are alleged to be five Tasings by CBP officers of a man handcuffed and surrounded by about a dozen agents, one of whom appears to have his knee on the man’s neck. The words “quit resisting” are heard over the prone man. The coroner’s office classified Mr. Hernández Rojas’s death as a homicide, noting in addition to his heart attack: “several loose teeth; bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine.”  CBP’s version of events described a “combative” person: force was needed to “subdue the individual and maintain officer safety.”  It took two years – and PBS’s broadcast of the video – for a grand jury to be convened.
Americans don’t know what really happened in any of these cases.  The ACLU is certain, however, that use-of-force incidents like those described must not be swept under the carpet without full CBP transparency.  CBP proudly declares itself to be the largest law enforcement agency in the United States; that mantle carries responsibility to be accountable to the American public.
 
Chris Rickerd
ACLU Washington Legislative Office

 
According to recent data, New Mexico has the 2nd highest teen pregnancy rate in the country; it follows that New Mexico has high numbers of parents who had their first children as teenagers. As a young mama recently shared, “we aren’t just teens having babies, we are young parents who are raising families”. The negative practice of shaming and blaming young parents exists everywhere and has untold impacts on young families.

A research brief, “The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing” reports that mothers having their first child at age 17 or younger cost the United States $8.63 billion annually. As part of this calculation researchers measured, “the reduced earning capacity of teen mothers and their partners due to lower levels of educational attainment--all of which translate into lost tax revenue.” This data is often used to paint young parents as a drain on our economy, but we need to refocus this discourse and take action to address the overwhelming educational push-out young parents are facing. Last year, Young Women United (YWU) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico conducted focus groups with young moms to learn about their experiences in accessing education as pregnant and parenting teens. Young parents in New Mexico shared stories about how fellow students, teachers, and administrators made them feel unwelcome. One student from Las Cruces told us, “Teachers were against it and told [me]it would lower [my] grades.” In Albuquerque, students told us about an educator yelling at pregnant moms, promising that their kids would be screwed up because of their mistake. Teen parents from different parts of New Mexico said that many of their teachers refused to allow them to make up assignments they missed due to childbirth.  All over the state we learned about district policies and procedures that erect barriers to young parents completing their education. Working with the ACLU of New Mexico taught us about the protections against educational discrimination that Title IX is supposed to bring to pregnant and parenting teens.

Carrying momentum from these focus groups, YWU organized with young parent leaders to collectively author Senate Memorial 25 establishing August 25th as the New Mexico Day in Recognition of Young Parents. From committee hearings to conversations with legislators, these leaders let their message be known: young parents deserve respect, trust, and recognition.  Over 50 young parents and many allies from all over New Mexico came together for “Show Some Love,” a day of action during the legislative session at the Roundhouse which created a space for young parents to speak out and connect with legislators about issues that matter, like educational discrimination in our school systems.  SM 25 passed through the NM legislative body with bipartisan support. Too much is at stake when we shame and stigmatize young parents. Blaming social ills on young parents pushes them away from the support and resources that all families need to be healthy. Meaningful change in the lives of all young people is rooted in equal access to educational opportunities, living wage jobs, affordable health care, and safe housing.  To ensure that young parents and their children are given the opportunity to be strong families we must address discriminatory practices and policies impacting their lives. This August we are incredibly proud to announce three New Mexico celebrations in recognition of young parents.  While these events are affirmations of equality that all families deserve, we have work ahead. Together with the ACLU of New Mexico, YWU is centering the voices of young parents on a powerful task force set to assess and eliminate educational barriers faced by pregnant and parenting students. With young parents committed to creating change, we expect to see important wins for young families as we come out of New Mexico’s upcoming legislative session. Together we can and must build communities where all families can thrive.
 
Denicia Cadena, Interim Director, Young Women United
Micaela Cadena, Campaign Coordinator, Young Women United

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2012
 
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or [email protected]
 
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—On Saturday, August 25, Young Women United (YWU) will host the first ever “Day of Recognition for Young Parents” in New Mexico at 3 PM at Kit Carson Park. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico will be partnering with YWU at the event to provide pregnant and parenting teens with information about their educational rights.  In the 2012 New Mexico State Legislative Session, the legislature passed a memorial with bipartisan support establishing August 25 as the “New Mexico Day in Recognition of Young Parents.”
 
“All families deserve respect, trust and recognition,” said Micaela Cadena, Campaign Coordinator, Young Women United. “But too often young parents are cast in a negative light and pushed to the margins of society. The legislature created this day of recognition to affirm the value of young families and acknowledge all the ways they contribute to our communities.”
 
On this inaugural day of recognition, young parents from the Albuquerque area and beyond will join together at Kit Carson Park to strengthen bonds of support within their community and discuss challenges they face.
 
“We want to use this day of recognition to call attention to all the ways we can support young parents in our state,” said ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Alexandra Freedman Smith. “Young parents still face a variety of barriers to completing their education. Some schools attempt to force pregnant and parenting students out, or do not provide the flexibility young parents need to balance their education and parenting responsibilities.”
 
The ACLU of New Mexico, Strong Families NM, Pegasus Legal Services for Children, the Southwest Women’s Law Center, New Futures, New Mexico GRADS, and the UNM Teen Parent Mentoring Program, CNM Outreach, Native American Voters Alliance, Religious Coalition Reproductive Choice, HOPE NM, MyCommunityNM , Sundance, UNM Nurse Family Partnership, St. Joseph Home Visiting Program, NM Breastfeeding Task Force and UNM Men of Color Alliance will have tables at the event to provide information on community resources for young parents, opportunities for growth and rights education.
 
 
WHAT: Day of Recognition for Young Families
 
WHEN: Saturday, August 25, 3PM – 6PM
 
WHERE: Kit Carson Park, Albuquerque, NM
 

 

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