Customs and Border Protection is the federal government’s largest law-enforcement agency. Housed within the Department of Homeland Security, its primary responsibility is to secure the U.S. border and to facilitate legitimate trade and travel. On a daily basis, however, along both the northern and southern borders, CBP officers and Border Patrol agents overstep their legal authority and disregard the U.S. Constitution. Among other violations, these officers and agents routinely: conduct law enforcement activities far into the interior of the United States, far from any actual border; commit racial profiling and make racially motivated arrests; employ derogatory and coercive interrogation tactics; imprison detainees in inhumane conditions; use excessive force; and intimidate and harass residents at Ports of Entry, permanent checkpoints, and “roving patrols” throughout the United States. CBP’s disregard of basic constitutional protections and human rights must stop.

HoldCBPAccountable is a joint initiative of the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the ACLU of Arizona. These four organizations have joined forces to hold CBP accountable and demand greater transparency in its operations. The cases on this site highlight the breadth of the problem and the culture of impunity that permeates the agency. We hope this website can serve as a resource for litigators and advocates working toward securing human and civil rights in U.S. border regions. If you are an attorney with a case you’d like to include on the site, please contact us:

• NWIRP: Sydney Maltese, Impact Litigation Legal Advocate, sydney@nwirp.org.