Thread by @NoMoreDeaths

For the second time in two months, the U.S. Border Patrol and their SWAT unit, BORTAC, raided our humanitarian aid camp in a military style assault, chasing + terrorizing migrants receiving care.

BORTAC is a product of the hyper-militarization of border enforcement [A THREAD]

BORTAC is BP's special forces cosplay unit, formed in 1984 to repress uprisings in INS detention centers.

The unit’s participation in the raid is a result of @DHSgov’s funding for police across the country. @memomiller / @democracynow) [2/13]
democracynow.org/2020/7/23/fede…

Between 2006 and 2014, Law enforcement agencies received an array of military equipment worth over $1.5 billion. A recent @WashingtonPost study explains how militarization of law enforcement leads to an increase in police violence. [3/11] wapo.st/2I22AoN

"When a county goes from receiving no military equipment to $2,539,767 worth (the largest figure that went to one agency in our data), more than twice as many civilians are likely to die the following year." [4/13]

Border Patrol has been described as a paramilitary organization in federal court, in defense of USBP agent Lonnie Swartz, in an attempt to justify his brutal, on-duty murder of unarmed 16-year-old José Antonio Elena Rodríguez in 2012. [5/13] theguardian.com/us-news/2018/a…

Since 2003, the budget of @CBP—the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country, which includes both the Border Patrol and operations at ports of entry—has nearly tripled, from $5.9 billion in FY 2003 to $17.1 billion in FY 2019. [6/13]

BORTAC was also deployed in LA following the brutal beating of Rodney King by @LAPDHQ. They assisted in US drug war ops in South America, were in New Orleans after Katrina, + were sent by Trump to help @ICEgov terrorize sanctuary cities in 2020 nytimes.com/2020/02/14/us/…
[7/13]

BORTAC has been deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan, operating as a sort of global police force carrying out tactical missions against the “war on terror”, no doubt terrorizing people and operating as an extrajudicial force in both war zones.
theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j…

[8/13]

In 2020, Trump deployed BORTAC to sanctuary cities to assist ICE & act as a show of force. They were deployed to Portland + Minneapolis to repress protesters in the wake of uprisings following the murder of George Floyd(@kenklippenstein/@TheNation) thenation.com/article/societ…
[9/13]

Although BP likes to aggressively highlight their “humanitarian mission,” as a paramilitary organization they CANNOT both enforce the border and provide aid. They are not providing aid; they are hunting down and incarcerating people who are just trying to survive.
[10/13]

Border Patrol's "humanitarianism" violates global standards set by the UN, which say that “humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold...” bit.ly/34yRvU3
[11/13]

“Border Patrol continues to abuse its power without accountability. It continues to act in a way that dehumanizes and oppresses communities of color, and it stays true to its white supremacist roots.” @SOAwatch / @ashahshahani scalar.usc.edu/works/cec-jour…
[12/13]

BORTAC claims to be fighting a counterinsurgency but migration is a human right, not an act of war. BP routinely uses excessive force in the desert, and the recent raid is just one example of this egregious behavior.

Our communities should not be war zones.
[13/13]