Group documents abuse in the era of mass deportations

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – It was 25 years ago that Fernando Garcia and a group of volunteers began asking El Paso residents about their interaction with law enforcement officers.

The results were alarming.

“When we began in 2000, we recorded 150 to 160 cases of human rights and constitutional rights violations,” said Garcia, executive director of Border Network for Human Rights. “What we did with those findings is to educate the community about their rights during encounters with law enforcement and also approach the agencies we believed were engaged in a pattern of constitutional violations.”

The complaints included racial profiling, physical and psychological abuse, warrantless searches, arbitrary arrests and instant deportations without due process. Some things have improved d