By Kyndall Dowell and Sofia Hosseinzadeh
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A new report by the ACLU of Arizona this week revealed the Border Patrol’s harsh treatment of migrants’ personal belongings on the Southern Border.
Zoe Martens, Advocacy Coordinator at Kino Border Initiative, charged, “These inhumane practices serve no purpose but to demoralize people seeking safety and a better life; these abuses must end.”
The report, From Hope to Heartbreak, detailed personal accounts of migrants who suffered from the Border Patrol’s confiscation of their belongings.
One account details the story of a five-year old migrant using the alias “Rosa” who relies on medication and a specific diet to treat her epilepsy.
“When detained by (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), Rosa’s medications were taken away, and the family was refused any medical assistance until later that night, after Rosa began convulsing,” the report stated.
“These sweeping draconian policies and practices around personal property are indefensible. Seizing migrants’ belongings, and then trashing or refusing to return them, is morally and legally wrong,” wrote immigrants’ rights groups in a letter to U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The report urges CBP to alter its policies towards the handling of migrant’s belongings to “Allow migrants to retain as many of their personal belongings as possible, prioritizing essential belongings – from its initial encounter with migrants to their release from U.S. government custody.”
“The confiscation of migrants’ medications and medical devices, and the failure to return them, directly illustrates the way in which Border Patrol’s property practices put migrants’ health and safety at risk,” the report urged.
Additional recommendations in the report suggest migrants have access to their medications and medical devices as required as well as having the policies accommodate religious garbs – the report noted stories of migrants forced to discard their turbans.
“‘They told me to take off my turban. I know a little English, and I said, ‘It’s my religion.’ But they insisted,” reported a migrant in the Hope to Heartbreak report.
In addition to the ACLU of Arizona’s support, the report is co-authored by The Kino Border Initiative, Protect AZ Health, the Sikh Coalition, the ACLU, and the ACLUs of New Mexico, San Diego & Imperial Counties and Texas.
