Small towns and cities in Washington State may seem like unlikely places for abuses by the Border Patrol, but that is what has emerged there as the agency's presence in the U.S.-Canada borderlands has grown dramatically over the last several years. The situation presents significant challenges for the wellbeing of families and communities in the area, and for civil and human rights more broadly.
A major report released today by the humanitarian aid and human rights group No More Deaths paints a frightening picture of systematic and widespread abuse by U.S. Border Patrol agents of migrants in their custody. At the same time, it demonstrates the brutality inherent in the agency’s very existence and operation.
