Our new report — Left to Die: Border Patrol, Search and Rescue and the Crisis of Disappearance — is out now! (thedisappearedreport.org).

Here are some of our KEY FINDINGS 🧵⬇️ ImageImage
There is an urgent need for emergency search & rescue services for undocumented people in distress in the US-Mexico borderlands. Image
The agency responsible for causing these emergencies — the US Border Patrol — has positioned itself as the primary emergency responder. Image
Local law enforcement agencies transfer all emergency calls regarding people profiled as undocumented border-crossers directly to Border Patrol. Image
Our team reviewed 456 emergency cases referred to Border Patrol.

We found that in 63% of all cases, the agency did not conduct ANY confirmed search or rescue response at all. Image
In cases where Border Patrol *did* confirm a search or rescue mobilization, the agency’s efforts were seriously diminished when compared to county searches for citizens.

In the border region, emergency services are separate, unequal, and for many, simply nonexistent. Image
Additionally, Border Patrol often obstructs family & community search efforts by withholding information, providing false information, and harassing and criminalizing humanitarian and family search teams. Image
We found that Border Patrol was more than TWICE as likely to take part in directly CAUSING a person to go missing — through dangerous enforcement tactics like "chase and scatter" — than they were to participate in locating or rescuing anyone. Image
We know that ultimately, the only solution to this crisis is a transformative one — demilitarize the border, decriminalize migration, defund and dismantle Border Patrol, and address the root causes of migration. Image
Left To Die: Border Patrol, Search & Rescue and the Crisis of Disappearance is out now.

Read the executive summary in the images below.
(or here: rb.gy/uzelc1)

And the full report at thedisappearedreport.org ImageImageImage

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More from @NoMoreDeaths

6 Feb
In our report, we show that search and rescue for migrants is separate and unequal. When citizens are lost, border counties respond with all resources at their disposal. When they suspect a missing person of being undocumented, the case is transferred to Border Patrol. Image
Border Patrol works alone with no transparency. In the cases we analyzed, 27% of emergency cases that BP responded to ended in disappearance. In contrast, local SAR teams boast a near 100% success rate of search and rescues for citizens and tourists in similar areas. Image
NMD along with the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a FOIA in April of 2019 seeking documents and data related to Border Patrols response to emergency cases, the quality of those responses, and the outcomes of those that were missing. ccrjustice.org/sites/default/…
Read 4 tweets
5 Feb
📣CALL TO ACTION! Every year, Congress gives more than $25 billion dollars to ICE and CBP to profile, jail, deport and terrorize immigrants.🧵
Our new report finds that Border Patrol systematically ignores and mishandles the search and rescue emergencies of migrants, who are funneled into dangerous and remote terrain by the agency's policy and practices.
We must decriminalize migration, demilitarize the border and defund Customs and Border Protection, the agency that causes people to become missing and leaves them to die.
Read 4 tweets
9 Oct 20
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
Read 13 tweets
2 Aug 20
Disturbing photos show the aftermath of last night's raid at Byrd Camp.
Border Patrol and BORTAC arrested people receiving care and ransacked the humanitarian aid station, ripping apart tents and destroying medical supplies.
This morning during clean up, volunteers also saw that agents had disconnected the power to the well, the only water source on the property of the remote desert camp.

#waternotwalls #aguaesvida
Read 5 tweets
1 Aug 20
🚨🚨🚨 UPDATE — At sunset last night, in a military-style assault, Border Patrol raided our humanitarian aid camp, chasing and arresting 30+ people who were receiving care and detaining all aid workers, whose phones were confiscated along w/ any video footage of the raid.
In a massive show of force, Border Patrol + BORTAC—the same militarized tactical unit recently mobilized against protestors in US cities—descended on the camp with an armored vehicle, three ATVS, two helicopters, and ~24 marked and unmarked vehicles.
Agents refused to present a warrant upon entry and were not wearing masks.

In the dark, they proceeded to chase + detain people who had been receiving care, while a Border Patrol cameraman filmed the chaotic scene.
Read 9 tweets
29 Jul 20
NEW DOCUMENTS obtained by #FOIA request indicate the US Border Patrol union—a pro-Trump, anti-immigrant extremist organization—provoked the agency to raid our humanitarian aid camp and clinic in 2017. The documents also reveal #BORTAC’s involvement in the raid (1/x)
The documents include an email to top level CBP commissioners, urging the agency to crack down on @NoMoreDeaths. While the sender is redacted, we deduce that the author is Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council and notorious anti-immigrant fanatic.
The BP Union is one of the most powerful law enforcement unions in the country. It is a notoriously anti-immigrant extremist group. Judd regularly associates with other hate groups (like @FAIRImmigration) and acts as Trump's unofficial advisor. pbs.org/newshour/polit…
Read 23 tweets

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