The Kino Border Initiative reported:
A Guatemalan mother and her four children who had fled persecution in their home country entered the US on July 4th with a packet of evidence related to their asylum case, including police reports that document their attempts to seek protection. When apprehended by Border Patrol, she tried to show agents that evidence.
Instead, two ASID (Alien Smuggler Identification and Deterrence) agents interrogated her for around half an hour about who she had paid and how she had crossed. They refused to listen to her or look at any documents related to her asylum claim and threatened that if she didn’t give them the information they wanted on the smuggler she would face serious consequences. They asked her for her husband’s number. Since he is in the US and is in the asylum process, she thought that they would call him as part of processing her for asylum. Instead, they only called her husband to ask whether he paid the cartel and, if so, how much money
Before expelling the mother and her four children, a Border Patrol agent said to her that she should pass on the message of: “Don’t come here. You aren’t going to get anything. If you bring kids, you won’t accomplish anything.”
— “July 9 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, July 9, 2020).
Sector(s): Tucson
Agency(ies): Border Patrol
Event Type(s): Abusive Language, Denial of Protection to Most Vulnerable
Last Known Accountability Status: Shared with Congressional Oversight Committees, Unknown
Victim Classification: Family Unit, Guatemala
The Kino Border Initiative reported, “A young Salvadoran woman who crossed the border to seek asylum expressed her fear of returning to her country of origin to the Border Patrol agents that apprehended her. The agents responded by laughing in her face.”
— Kino Border Initiative, “May 27 Update From KBI”, May 2020.
Sector(s): Tucson
Agency(ies): Border Patrol
Event Type(s): Denial of Protection to Most Vulnerable
Last Known Accountability Status: Shared with Congressional Oversight Committees, Unknown
Victim Classification: El Salvador, Female, Single Adult
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
Last week KBI received a Guatemalan child who had traveled north with the hope of attending school in the US. Although CBP officials have repeatedly told KBI that Border Patrol agents are directed not to expel unaccompanied children, this 16-year-old was expelled to Nogales, Sonora. The Border Patrol agent that interviewed him took away his birth certificate, told him it was fake, and accused him of lying about his age, before expelling him to Nogales, Sonora.
— “May 27 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, May 2020).
Sector(s): Tucson
Agency(ies): Border Patrol
Event Type(s): Confiscation of Documents, Denial of Protection to Most Vulnerable, Expulsion of Unaccompanied Minor
Last Known Accountability Status: Shared with Congressional Oversight Committees, Unknown
Victim Classification: Guatemala, Unaccompanied Child
The Kino Border Initiative reported:
A young Guatemalan woman arrived in Nogales last week after fleeing domestic violence. Her partner had beaten her and her children. When she left him, he threatened to take away her children and continued to look for her to beat her children. When she crossed into the US to seek asylum, Border Patrol expelled her under Title 42 without giving her access to a fear assessment.
— “May 27 Update From KBI” (Nogales: Kino Border Initiative, May 2020).
Sector(s): Tucson
Agency(ies): Border Patrol
Event Type(s): Denial of Protection to Most Vulnerable
Last Known Accountability Status: Shared with Congressional Oversight Committees, Unknown
Victim Classification: Domestic or Gender-Based Violence Victim, Female, Guatemala
