News & Commentary

New Mexico’s legalization of cannabis for recreational adult use has reminded all borderland residents of a fact our Latinx, Indigenous and Black neighbors have known for decades: Border Patrol checkpoints are cruel, pointless and serve to harass residents going about their lives.

A New Mexico man seeks justice after a Customs and Border Protection officer assaults him

It’s past time we eliminate interior border checkpoints and drastically reduce the number of Border Patrol agents in the region.

Absent deep reforms, Border Patrol’s long history of racist, violent abuse means inhumanity like that displayed in Del Rio, Texas will continue to repeat itself.

On May 25, 2021 we hosted a special event featuring speakers from the ACLU and partner organizations to discuss how we can chart a more humane path forward on border policy.

Ending Border Patrol’s long-standing abuses and impunity requires divestment, accountability, and removing the agency from U.S. communities.

The dark handheld camera footage shows a large group of people, mostly families clutching small children, blinded by the flashlights trained on their faces. Heavily armed men wearing fake law enforcement badges, ski masks, and camouflage uniforms bark orders to the frightened families.

The past few months have been a testament to the dangerous levels of anti-immigrant sentiment the current administration has inflamed within certain segments of our society.

In late April, the ACLU of New Mexico sent letters to federal, state and local authorities urging them to criminally investigate a group calling itself the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP) that has been illegally arresting immigrant families at gunpoint in southern New Mexico and turning them over to Border Patrol. Videos that the UCP posted online show masked men in military camouflage surrounding hundreds of men, women and young children huddled. Some of the men carry military-style weapons. In one of the videos, a vigilante shines a flashlight on two immigrant men and muses, “The only problem is if we shoot on the hill it will be an international crisis . . . It would save some time though, wouldn’t it?”