Indianz.Com > News > Cronkite News: New policy bars border agents from trashing personal property
After scathing GAO report, Border Patrol agents ordered to stop tossing out migrants’ belongings
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Cronkite News
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has directed agents to stop discarding migrants’ personal belongings, after a scathing report detailing how medicine, clothes, cell phones, cash and identity documents have been taken by authorities at holding facilities and never returned.
The new rules classify legal documents, contact information and religious items as “essential personal property” that cannot be stripped from migrants. Phones, cash, medical documents and items of sentimental value must be stored, with migrants given written instructions on how to retrieve their belongings.
In April, the Government Accountability Office issued a report affirming long- standing complaints from migrants and their advocates, and documented hundreds of instances of migrants losing birth certificates, cash and clothing.
In some Border Patrol sectors, migrants have been allowed to keep no more than could fit into a small plastic bag, according to GAO, with the rest of their possessions discarded.
The CBP directive reflects GAO recommendations to improve the handling of personal belongings and give migrants clear instructions on how to retrieve their stored items.
Under the directive, CBP “will allow detainees to keep as much of their personal property as their facility’s physical capacity, safety considerations, transportation limitations, and personal availability allow.”
Filthy clothing and other items deemed a health hazard may still be discarded.
Migrants have complained that border agents have been overly aggressive in enforcing the health hazard provision.
GAO cited an incident in which an agent took the backpacks and clothes from a group of migrants on grounds the items “could be soiled,” rather than assessing the actual condition of the items.
Government Accountability Office Report
Southwest Border:
Additional Guidance and Monitoring Needed to Improve CBP’s Handling of Personal Property (GAO-24-106540)
For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.
Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News. It is published via a Creative Commons license. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
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