Coalition Lauds End of Random Sweeps on Mass Transit Along Northern Border

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New York Immigration Coalition is pleased to learn of a shift in enforcement tactics by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents within 100 miles of the northern border. For years, advocates have raised concerns about the random sweeps conducted by CBP agents on Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses within that 100-mile zone. While CBP maintained that such sweeps—in which individuals on trains and buses were questioned about their citizenship and detained if they did not have proof of lawful status—were necessary to secure the border against unauthorized entry, none of these trains or buses crossed the border, and the vast majority of those arrested had been in the country for more than a year. Disproportionately affecting people of color, this practice has raised serious concerns about its impact on civil rights and liberties. According to sources within the agency, a new directive will require agents to have "actionable intelligence" that an individual has recently entered the country without proper authorization before boarding a domestic bus or train within 100 miles from of the northern border.

The following is a statement from Ms. Chung-Wha Hong, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition:

"We welcome the news that Customs and Border Protection will direct agents to take action only when they have specific intelligence, rather than indiscriminately sweeping mass transit along the northern border, and questioning those who look foreign-born. Such transportation raids used racial profiling as a tool, a poor use of law enforcement resources. With this new policy directive, the administration has taken a crucial step to restore basic due process and respect our civil rights and civil liberties."

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