Last year, federal watchdog announced review of CBP practices; Sikhs say turbans still confiscated
“The seizure and destruction of turbans—an article of faith that is deeply meaningful and personal to Sikh individuals—is just one example of the egregious practices of CBP with regard to migrants’ personal property,” said Sahel Kaur, senior staff attorney for the Sikh Coalition, on Monday. “We are grateful to all of our partners for embarking on this shared effort, and we look forward to continuing to work together to fight for policy change that safeguards the basic rights of migrants.”
In response, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva—a Democrat representing much of the Arizona-Mexico border—pushed the Government Accountability Office to investigate how the agency deals with religious items, and other property, and the GAO said it would begin reviewing the issue in January 2023. That report has not been released.
Originally published in TucsonSentinel.com by Paul Ingram.
Immigration and civil rights advocates said U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials continue to confiscate and destroy personal belongings, including medications and medical records, as well as the turbans of Sikh men.
In a report released Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, joined by the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative, the Sikh Coalition and Protect AZ Health said “inhumane and ineffective policies” allow the agency to continue what they called “widespread confiscation and trashing of migrants’ personal belongings.”
In the 42-page report, the groups reported multiple instances when Border Patrol agents seized medication and failed to return them, resulting in the hospitalization of three children, including a 2-year-old who suffered multiple seizures.
In another case, Border Patrol agents forced a man to throw away the ashes of his father, who died on the journey from Nicaragua. Further, one man was forced to discard a prayer rug that had been in his family for over a century, while another was forced to toss medical records for his son—including X-ray images—that described a drainage in his brain that required surgery.
“Border Patrol’s practices inflict unnecessary hardship and distress on those in the agency’s custody, including people seeking protection from violence and persecution,” said Noah Schramm, ACLU’s border policy strategist. “As our report highlights, these cruel confiscations have infringed on migrants’ religious practices, undermined documentation of legal claims, and in some cases, have interrupted migrants’ medical regimens in ways that have been life-threatening.”
“Ask anyone who’s done intake interviews at our migrant aid center and they’ll have an example of someone that Border Patrol returned to Mexico without their most essential belongings,” said Zoe Martens, advocacy coordinator at Kino Border Initiative.
Martens said in one case, a father lost the only photos and videos of his child’s birthday after agents trashed his cellphone. In other cases, Border Patrol agents seized identity and travel documents, declaring them trash and cutting them into pieces of front of them.
“These inhumane practices serve no purpose but to demoralize people seeking safety and a better life; these abuses must end,” Martens said.
For years, advocates have criticized how the agency handles personal effects, arguing the agency regularly deports people to Mexico without their belongings, including cash and personal documents. In March 2019, the ACLU tried to marshal the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, as well as the Office of Inspector General, to investigate claims the agency was disposing of turbans and other religious items.
However, the practice continued through the summer of 2022, the ACLU and other advocates said Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector seized turbans from at least 64 Sikh men.
Sikhs are required to wear some external articles of faith, including a steel bracelet known as a kara, uncut hair and beards, known as kesh, and a turban, known as a dastaar, to cover their hair.
“These articles of faith distinguish a Sikh, have deep spiritual significance, and are mandated by Sikhs’ religious traditions and should not be forcibly removed or discarded,” the Sikh Coalition wrote last year.
“The seizure and destruction of turbans—an article of faith that is deeply meaningful and personal to Sikh individuals—is just one example of the egregious practices of CBP with regard to migrants’ personal property,” said Sahel Kaur, senior staff attorney for the Sikh Coalition, on Monday. “We are grateful to all of our partners for embarking on this shared effort, and we look forward to continuing to work together to fight for policy change that safeguards the basic rights of migrants.”
In response, U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva—a Democrat representing much of the Arizona-Mexico border—pushed the Government Accountability Office to investigate how the agency deals with religious items, and other property, and the GAO said it would begin reviewing the issue in January 2023. That report has not been released.
The group said CBP should allow migrants to retain more personal property—including letting people keep a small bag—and improve how the agency retains seized property. Money should be converted in U.S. dollars, and returned. Medication and medical devices should be reviewed by a medical provider and to a “maximum degree feasible” migrants should be able to access medication, or be able to access a replacement at the direction of a medical provider.
In the case of religious garb, any search or screening of the items should comply with federal law and removal should be “last resort,” the group said. After religious garb is screened and no risk is found, migrants should be provided “automatic, on-the-spot approval to continue wearing it without having to make a request.”
And, if an item must be confiscated, that item should be stored and protected, and then returned when the person is released. The ACLU also recommended training for Border Patrol agents.
Migration shifts to Tucson Sector
Since 2022, migration routes shifted from the Yuma Sector toward the neighboring Tucson Sector, which runs from the county line to the New Mexico border.
In December 2023, nearly 250,000 people were encountered by U.S. Border Patrol agents along the Southwestern border. While Yuma Sector agents encountered 7,145 people, Tucson Sector agents encountered over 80,000 people, according to CBP data.
In a visit along the southern edge of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in August, the desert floor was strewn trash and personal items, including folded and cleaved identity cards, passports and other travel documents. Cellphone SIM cards sat in the dust, and a single child’s shoe was alone in the sun.
At a water station set up by Humane Borders just feet from the 30-foot-high “bollard wall,” a trash can was packed with personal effects, including a child’s backpack for the Disney movie “Encanto,” as well as medicine, smashed cellphones, and clothing.
Since mid-September, the remote desert west of Lukeville — about 110 miles southwest of Tucson — became a major crossing point for migrants. While the Trump administration installed 30-foot steel barriers along the southern edge of the 330,000-acre national refuge, thousands of migrants have crossed using either open floodgates or squeezing through gaps cut in the 6-inch wide steel “bollards” by smugglers using battery-powered tools.
During one day in November, at least 750 people lingered in a double-file line along the border road, and within weeks CBP decided to close the nearby Lukeville border crossing so it could officers from the port could help transport migrants. Meanwhile, hundreds more were pushed into the remote wilderness near Sasabe, Ariz. despite freezing, sodden conditions.
Loss of medications ‘exacerbates’ medical conditions
KBI, joined by Protect AZ Health, have interviewed hundreds of migrants since October 2022.
Emily Snyder, a nurse practitioner for Protect AZ Health, provides medical evaluations and treatment for people after they were released by Border Patrol. From 2022 and 2023, Protect AZ Health interviewed 682 migrants after they were released by Border Patrol in Phoenix and found dozens of cases when medications or medical devices had been confiscated by Border Patrol and not returned or replaced, according to the report.
“Everyday I sit with clients and listen to their stories of having to throw away their medications or having them forcibly removed from their possession. The stress and anxiety of losing their medication only further exacerbates their medical condition,” Snyder said. “Medications are vital for individuals with acute and chronic medical conditions, and confiscating them can have severe consequences, including exacerbating existing health issues or even endangering lives. It is crucial to recognize the importance of preserving the health and dignity of all individuals, regardless of their immigration status.”
“Denying individuals access to their essential medications not only violates their basic human rights but also jeopardizes their health and well-being,” Snyder said.
Critiques from 2014
For years, CBP has been criticized for how it handles personal property. In 2014, the humanitarian group No More Deaths said the agency regularly deported people into Mexico without their belongings, including cash and personal documents. And, several years ago, the artist Tom Kiefer accumulated hundreds of items while working as a janitor at the Border Patrol station in Ajo, Arizona and began making art from the discarded items.
Other items include documents people could use to win their asylum cases, as well as IDs, and vital phone numbers.
Along with the ACLU, the Washington Office on Latin America said that by mid-August, there were at least 13 instances when agents seized documents, and 28 times when they failed to return personal belongings. KBI told WOLA agents took the belongings of one man, including pesos, a chain with a diamond ring, a bible, keys, his cellphone and his IDs and birth certificate and deported him to Nogales, Sonora without returning those items in August.In another case, WOLA said an activist in Texas found x-rays for a 6-year-old boy tossed in the dirt beside the border wall.
“The pattern includes agents’ confiscation of items vital to religious freedom, like rosary beads or the 64 or more turbans taken from Sikhs in Arizona so far this year,” wrote Adam Isacson, with WOLA. “Some unreturned items have monetary value, like cash, jewelry, and mobile phones. Some have sentimental value, like photos, small heirlooms, and children’s stuffed animals and dolls. Some are important for health and well-being, like prescriptions and medicines. And some are essential for navigating daily life as a U.S.-based asylum seeker, like identity documents, proof of persecution, and vital phone numbers.”
Agency outlines polices
In 2019, Rodney Scott, chief of the Border Patrol during the Trump administration, sent out a memo reminding agents how to handle seized personal effects, including what “constitutes contraband and a health hazard.” This could include knives or other sharp objects, as well as pesticides and other chemicals, lighters, as well as food and “biohazards.”
“Wet moldy items,” including clothing, can also be confiscated, the agency said.
The agency “experienced an unprecedented number of apprehensions,” Scott began, adding “managing detainee personal effects presented significant challenges along the southwest border,” he wrote. This “provided an opportunity to explore more efficient means of managing detainee property,” he said.
The memo, called an Internal Operating Procedure, said those in custody “must willingly and voluntarily dispose” of items considered “unfit for storage,” however, items that can be stored must be retained by the agency for at least 30 days. If a person is transferred to another agency, released, or repatriated to another country, any “personal effects inventoried” should go with them.
CBP officials told the ACLU and the International Rescue Committee turbans were taken only when they “pose a security risk” and agents declined to store turbans when they were wet or damaged, Schramm wrote. John Modlin, the head of the Tucson Sector, told the IRC last year he “raised concerns” with Yuma Sector officials, who said they were “retraining” processing officials.
The organization reminded then-CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus and other CBP officials that the confiscations not only violated TEDS, but also the Religious Freedom Restoration Act—a 1993 law passed by Congress intended to keep the federal government from adding a “substantially burden” to a person’s exercise of religion” unless there’s a “compelling interest.”