WASHINGTON: US border police persistently commit human rights abuses without accountability in their handling of migrants at the frontier with Mexico, a new report from two Latin America-focused NGOs said Wednesday.
The report, from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), points to deaths in custody amid unclear circumstances as well as abusive language, the denial of food and the separation of families by border agents.
“Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal government’s largest civilian law enforcement agency, has a persistent problem of human rights abuse without accountability,” the report said.
CBP did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Since 2020, WOLA and KBI have tallied 13 deaths where Border Patrol agents used force “under circumstances in which it is unclear whether they faced an imminent threat” or “failed to prevent the death of an individual in custody.”
In a section detailing how formal complaints to CBP often fail to be resolved, KBI tallied 78 complaints that it filed between 2020 and 2022.
Just five percent “led to either policy recommendations or discipline recommended for the agent in question,” the report said.
“We have documented a shocking pattern, including cases of misuse of lethal force, intimidation, sexual harassment, and falsifying documents,” report co-author Adam Isacson said in a statement.
“The lack of accountability is so widespread that it helps cement in place a culture that enables human rights violations. The abuses keep coming because impunity is so likely.”
Many of the alleged abuses occur when migrants are in custody, after turning themselves in to authorities or being intercepted.
In one instance documented in the report, a Salvadoran woman and her family turned themselves into a Border Patrol truck, hoping to claim asylum.
“An agent exited the truck, pulling a gun on the mother, calling them ‘terrorists,’ ‘rats’ and ‘criminals,’ the report said.
“The woman repeated her asylum request to 7 or 8 more agents, was ignored, and told the agents didn’t speak Spanish.”
Migrants who arrive in the United States without the necessary documentation are supposed to be held in CBP facilities for up to 72 hours while their cases are processed, but in practice, according to the NGOs, some stay for a week or more, in what they describe as unsanitary conditions.
While family separation is less common now than it was under the administration of former president Donald Trump, it still occurs, the report said.
During the 2022 fiscal year, 145 migrant children were separated from their parents, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
There have also been separations between spouses and siblings.
In one instance, a 17-year-old told KBI he was expelled to Mexico without knowing the whereabouts of his younger brother, who had crossed with him.
“While many, if not most CBP officers and Border Patrol agents follow best practices, the study shows frequent and severe alleged abuses,” a statement from WOLA and KBI said.
The authors of the report added: “We believe that it is possible to enact common-sense reforms that stop cruelty and align border governance with democratic values, even at a time when larger national debates on border and immigration policy are polarized.”
Report details ‘persistent’ human rights abuses at US border
https://arab.news/5fyyg
Report details ‘persistent’ human rights abuses at US border
- Many of the alleged abuses occur when migrants are in custody, after turning themselves in to authorities or being intercepted
Iran war sends prices in next door Turkmenistan soaring
- 10 days of war across the border have tumbled global markets, sending prices soaring
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: At a market in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat, pensioner Shemshat Kurbanova always used to pick the “juiciest” Iranian fruit — but 10 days of war across the border have sent prices soaring and she is now worried how to get by.
The Middle East war has tumbled global markets, with the effects being felt almost immediately in some of Tehran’s closest neighbors.
Iran last week banned all goods and agricultural exports, triggering economic pressure on secretive Turkmenistan and the wider Central Asian region, where Tehran had a growing economic footprint in recent years.
FASTFACT
Iran last week banned all goods and agricultural exports, triggering economic pressure on secretive Turkmenistan and the wider Central Asian region, where Tehran had a growing economic footprint in recent years.
With the Iran border only 20 km away, Kurbanova, 62, said she preferred Iranian fruit and juice for their freshness and affordability.
But “everything has doubled in price,” she told AFP.
According to an AFP journalist, mandarins in Ashgabat cost $1.90, apples more than $2 and a pack of cigarettes has risen to $3 — pretty much double what they were.
Kurbanova was worried how far her small pension would stretch.
“I understand the situation is difficult but I hope the conflict will soon end and the prices will come back to the previous levels,” she said.
Civil servant Kerim Ballyev — a heavy smoker who mostly bought “cheap Iranian cigarettes” — has been forced to cut down.
“The price has almost doubled,” he told AFP.
“For me, it is expensive. I won’t be buying a whole pack, I’ll buy them individually.”
Turkmenistan is one of the most secretive countries in the world.
Little information filters through to the public in the tightly controlled state, with the war next door virtually nonexistent in censored state media.
Although trade statistics are kept secret by authorities, Tehran is a significant trading partner for Turkmenistan — a trend seen throughout Central Asia — despite Chinese and Russian dominance.
A landlocked region the size of the EU, Central Asia is dependent on transit corridors via its neighbors — China, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan.
“Iran has for a long time played the role of a window to the south for Central Asia; key transport corridors go through its territory, which give access to the Arabian Gulf and then to the markets of India, the Middle East and Europe,” Kyrgyz economist Iskender Sharsheyev told AFP.
The war, he said, has “essentially paralyzed these southern corridors.”
“The consequences for Central Asia are already felt: delays in deliveries and the rising prices of fuel, fertilizer, medicine and electronics,” he added.
Byashim Ovezov, a 34-year-old businessman trading Iranian food products in Turkmenistan, said “the flow of goods has decreased.”
“If the war continues, then not only will the prices double, or more, but people like me will lose their jobs,” he said.
Economist Sharsheyev said Iran is a principal food supplier in the region, traditionally bringing in fruit, vegetables and dairy products.
“It is extremely difficult to replace them rapidly,” he said.
“The alternatives from China or Turkiye are more expensive and more complex logistically.”
Alternative routes — reaching Europe via the Caspian Sea to bypass Russia and Iran — do not have the capacity to absorb a sudden surge in cargo.
“At the moment, the region does not have a quick replacement for Iranian transit,” Sharsheyev said.
The impact of the war is also felt sharply further from Iran in Tajikistan, which has the strongest cultural and linguistic links with Iran in the region.
Bilateral trade reached nearly $500 million in 2025 — a substantial amount for the poorest country in Central Asia.
Madina, who runs a shop in the capital Dushanbe with Iranian products, said she had “almost nothing left in stock, except spices.”
A truck full of goods meant to refill her shelves has not been able to leave Iran since the war started on Feb. 28, she said.
“The borders were shut immediately, exports stopped, so our products got stuck,” she said.
“If the war continues and we will not be able to get goods, we will have to rent out the shop or get a smaller one,” she said.
