9 minute read
Representative Cases of Alleged Abuses
El Paso: Border Patrol
Case 17
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Transcriber: IC
Documenter: SH
Name of Abused Person: MER
Nationality: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Date of Incident: January 8, 2023
Agency: Border Patrol
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Physical Abuse
○ Use of Disproportionate Force
● Improper Use of Non Lethal Weapon
Location of Incident: Villa del Norte Apartments in El Paso, Texas
"I am M E R and I live in the V illa del Norte apartments in the Lower Valley and a few meters from the border That day it was at night when I heard a lot of screaming and I could see how a Border Patrol agent was yelling at a couple in the parking lot of the apartments I could see how the agent was pulling the people and then he shot them with the taser and I heard the people screaming and crying in pain Here it is common to see agents chasing migrants, but that was an abuse, that agent went too far."
El Paso: Border Patrol
Case 12
Transcriber: IC
Documenter: RA
Name of Abused Person: AM
Age: 23 years old
Nationality: Venezuelan
Date of Incident: January 6, 2023
Agency: Border Patrol
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
● Physical Abuse
○ Use of Disproportionate Force
● Endangerment of Life
○ Placed in Danger of Death In Arrest Situation
● Violation of In or Near Sensitive Locations Areas Memorandum of DHS
Location of Incident: Outside Opportunity Center (Border Agricultural Worker Center), El Paso, Texas
"My name is A M , my family and I were at the shelter On January 6, I was withdrawing some money that had been sent to me When I returned to the shelter, they told me what had happened to my husband and showed me the video My husband told me that the officer asked him for his documents and he told them that he had them inside the shelter
He walked towards the shelter, when an officer, speaking to him in Spanish, just pushed him against the glass door, then slammed him on the floor. A second officer also tasered him and aggressively lifted him up. A third tall, dark-haired officer arrived and took my husband away. I want to add that four witnesses, including two children, saw what happened, but they don't want to talk much "
El Paso: Border Patrol
Case 11
Transcriber: IC
Documenter: DC
Name of Abused Person: YV
Age: 29 years old
Nationality: Venezuelan
Date of Incident: January 3, 2023
Agency: Border Patrol
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
● Physical Abuse
○ Use of Disproportionate Force
● Child Endangerment
● Violation of In or Near Sensitive Locations Areas Memorandum of DHS
○ Police Action on Religious Location Premises
Location of Incident: Sacred Heart Church, El Paso, Texas
"On January 3rd at 7:00 in the evening we were outside the Sacred Heart Church, and at that moment a immigration agents arrived, more than 10 Border Patrol patrol cars (white and green) When I realized I grabbed my little girl and ran, my husband grabbed my other child and they also ran When I ran towards the church, there were the immigration patrols and an agent came up to me, he had a black stick in his hand, and he started yelling a lot of rude things at me, and he raised his hand yelling at me to stop, saying a lot of rude things, and I thought he was going to hit me at that moment and I turned back I was facing him and then he grabbed the boy who was next to me and threw him to the ground I turned back, ran towards the store and a lady dropped her phone and when she went back to pick it up, another immigration agent grabbed her jacket and threw her to the ground I kept running until I reached the door of the church. I was in panic, and I didn't know what else was going on around me, they took many people away using violence.
El Paso: Customs & Border Protection (CBP)
Case 8
Transcriber:
Documenter:
Name of Abused Person: RA, ME
Age: 43, 15
Nationality: Mexican
Date of Incident: November 7, 2022
Agency: CBP
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Improper Search of Person (Intimate Parts)
● Improper Search of a Minor (Intimate Parts)
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
Location of Incident: Paso del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas
"On November 7, 2022, my nephew, M E , age 15, and I were coming from Mexico Arriving at the Paso del Norte Bridge in El Paso, Texas, we were detained there for almost two hours and they were checking to see if we were bringing him in illegally. They asked him why he didn't speak English and he told them he had forgotten. Well, what outraged me the most was that they took everything out of my suitcases. Besides, they took me to the back in one place and told me that they were going to check me for anything illegal. But when they did, I was surprised because the search was very exaggerated. They touched me inappropriately and one of the officers ran her hand over my private part making me feel bad. I asked them if they always did that and the two officers turned to look at me and between them they laughed Then I told them that it wasn't right and they said 'ay mija, you're not used to it' and I said, 'They did that to my child too?' And they said, 'I don't know, maybe yes because it's routine' but they kept us apart for a while ”
El Paso: State Troopers
Case 22
Transcriber: AL
Documenter: Journalistic Note
Name of Abused Person: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Date of Incident: March 22, 2023
Agency: Department of Public Safety/ Texas State Troopers
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Endangerment
○ Due to Immigration Policy
○ During Persecution
● Death
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
Location of Incident: Paisano Street near UTEP
On Wednesday, March 22, a chase began at the West Town shopping center located in West El Paso A driver with 4 passengers, all of whom were migrants, fled from state troopers. The driver crashed into several vehicles on his way to East Paisano Street. The state police were able to catch up with the pick up truck, the driver stopped and fled along with one of the migrants. The police officers chased them both away, the driver jumped out of the bridge and so did the migrant. Four other passengers remained in the truck and were detained by the state police. The driver was a Weatherford, Texas man and the migrant was originally from El Salvador. The driver died after the fall while the migrant was transported to the hospital.
El Paso: El Paso Police Department
Case 25
Transcriber: AL
Documenter: AL
Name of Person Abused: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Date of Incident: February 2023
Agency: El Paso Police Department (EPPD)
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Physical Abuse
○ Use of Disproportionate Force
● Endangerment
○ During Arrest Situation
● Improper Use of Lethal Weapon
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
Location of Incident: Home in the Far East El Paso, Texas
"I was at a house party in East El Paso when a group of police officers entered the house
Three of the agents grabbed one of the young men and began to put their hands behind his back and continued to push him out of the house. The agents slammed him against the door and took him outside. The rest of the people who remained inside the house closed the door behind the police officers. There were several officers and units of the El Paso Police Department outside, some people were detained inside the cars.
Once outside the house, the group of police officers put their hands behind his back and pushed him against a car Several people shouted "that's an assault" when they saw how they were treating the young man One of the two officers slammed the young man's head against the right side of the car several times, then three officers continued pushing him One of them punched him in the back of the head and continued to grab him hard by the back of the head
Other people were being chased around in the street, some were being held on the ground and shot with the taser gun "1
1 KFOX14 News. (2023, February 4). El Paso police respond to viral video showing officer slamming, punching teen against unit. Retrieved from https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/el-paso-police-respond-to-viral-video-showingofficer-slamming-punching-teen-against-unit-far-east-3100-block-of-blue-dirt-internal-affairs-february-4-2023-s ocial-media-twitter-fiyfam-account-online?src=link
El Paso: El Paso Police Department
Case 27
Transcriber: AL
Documenter: AL
Name of Abused Person: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Date of Incident: April 9, 2023
Agency: El Paso Police Department (EPPD)
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Physical Abuse
○ Use of Disproportionate Force
● Endangerment
○ During Arrest Situation
● Improper Use of Lethal Weapon
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
Location of Incident: Sandoval Apartments, El Paso, Texas
In a video circulating on social media, an El Paso Police Department officer is seen holding a young man on the ground. The officer then has him in a blocking maneuver and then punches him in the face The young man is seen to end up bloodied
In the video you can see that there are several people watching what is happening A man approaches the police officers and is pushed into a car by a police officer Another young man is also slammed against the wall by an officer, who kneels on him and points his gun
The motive for the arrest is unknown
Rio Grande Valley: National Guard
Case 15
Transcriber: AL
Documenter: AL
Name of Abused Person: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Date of Incident: January 15, 2023
Agency: National Guard
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Verbal and/or Psychological Abuse
● Misuse of Firearm
Location of Incident: West of McAllen, TX
"Around 4:20 a.m. on Sunday, January 15, 2023 I was in an abandoned house somewhere west of McAllen with a group of migrants, there were 4 of us there. Shortly after, border patrol agents and national guard soldiers with a trained dog found us and entered the house. The other three migrants surrendered to the soldiers, but I tried to flee through a window. I resisted the soldier and he hit me to the ground with his fists and elbows. The soldier then pulled out his pistol and shot me in the left shoulder. I was taken to McAllen Medical Center for evaluation and treatment of my gunshot wound."2
2 Texas Tribune. (2023, January 19). National Guard member shoots and kills migrant at the border Retrieved from https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/19/national-guard-migrant-shot-border/
Death by Policy: Border Patrol
Case 3
Transcriber: IC
Documenter: Journalistic Note
Name of Abused Person: ATRA
Nationality: Panamanian
Age: 8 years old
Date of Incident: May 17, 2023
Agency: Border Patrol
Type of Alleged Abuse:
● Death by Immigration Policy
○ Death of a Minor due to Immigration Policy
● Unlawful Prolonged Detention
● Violation of Due Process of Law
● Deprivation of Basic Needs in Detention
○ Deprivation of Medical Care of a Minor
Location of Incident: Detention Center in Harlingen, TX
The mother of an 8-year-old Panamanian girl who died in Border Patrol custody charged that agents repeatedly ignored her pleas to hospitalize her as she suffered bone pain, had difficulty breathing and could not walk
The agents said the diagnosis of influenza given to the girl did not require hospitalization, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks said in an interview. They knew the little girl had a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia.
"My daughter was killed to me because she was almost a day and a half without breathing," the mother said. "She was crying, begging for her life and they didn't listen to her. They did nothing for her " In the interview with Telemundo 40, the mother added: "They killed my daughter, little by little they killed her She died in my arms and they took her away from me They are murderers"
Alvarez Benedicks, 35, said that she, her husband and three children, ages 14, 12 and 8, crossed the border into Brownsville, Texas, on May 9 When a doctor diagnosed 8-year-old Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez with influenza, the family was sent to the Harlingen facility on May 14 It is unknown why she was detained for so long
On her first day at Harlingen, Anadith woke up with a fever and headache, according to her mother, who said the facility was dusty and smelled like urine. When she told an officer that her daughter's bones hurt, she says he replied, "Ah, your daughter is growing up, that's why her bones hurt. Give her water." "I kept looking at him," Alvarez Benedicks pointed out. "How is he going to know, if he is not a doctor?"
