November 17, 2011
Yesterday the ACLU of Florida and Americans for Immigrant Justice sent a letter to Alan Bersin, Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB - Homeland Security), regarding Border Patrol activities in Florida.
Specifically the letter requests a meeting to discuss the practice of treating the entire state of Florida as a “border state” simply because it has a coastline – allowing Border Patrol to stop and search anyone anywhere in Florida, regardless of proximity to the border, to check citizenship or immigration status.
From the letter: “…if the entire state of Florida could be treated as a “border”…then CPB could stop any person in Florida at any time – and at any place within the state – and demand the person’s ‘documents.’”
The letter also raises concerns that Border Patrol’s activities result in detention of individuals who have committed no crimes – a practice in contradiction with the Obama Administration’s existing policy to focus immigration enforcement on individuals with more a serious or dangerous history.
Border Patrol’s practices have resulted in repeated racial profiling including detentions and searches based on personal appearance or language. The letter documents numerous instances of Border Patrol agents stopping people of color and Spanish speakers at inland train stations and on Greyhound buses that have no international routes.
A copy of the letter is available here:
http://www.aclufl.org/pdfs/2011-11-16-BersinLetter.pdf
