- United States Border Patrol agents are denying asylum access to families fleeing violence in Mexico, treating them abusively and dismissively, and returning them to the country they fled in fear.
- Current practices violate US and international human rights law, and border patrol agents violate both the right to seek asylum and to receive humane treatment in custody.
- The current and upcoming administrations should ensure that training for agents emphasizes that people have a right to seek asylum, and that agents are required to treat people humanely and communicate in a language they understand.
(Tucson, Arizona, December 5, 2024) – United States Border Patrol agents are denying access to asylum to families fleeing violence in Mexico, in violation of US and international human rights law Human Rights Watch said today.
The agents have expelled asylum seekers to Mexico, where many said they feared persecution, as well as mistreated and ordered them to discard their belongings. US and international human rights law guarantee the right to seek asylum, and to humane treatment when in government custody.
“Once these Mexican asylum seekers turned themselves in, Border Patrol agents were often abusive and seemed unwilling to follow US and international human rights law,” said Vicki B. Gaubeca, associate US immigration and border policy director at Human Rights Watch. “Border Patrol agents either ignored asylum seekers concerns, telling them that asylum no longer exists in the United States, or bullied them into silence.”
In October 2024, Human Rights Watch interviewed 40 Mexican asylum seekers who had been involuntarily removed to Nogales, Mexico.
The Interim Final Rule on asylum, issued by the administration of US President Joe Biden in June 2024 and tightened in September 2024, suspends access to the US asylum process when more than 2,500 people per day over seven consecutive days cross into the United States without authorization. The suspension is lifted only when daily encounters between ports of entry fall below 1,500 over a 28-day period. Since the rule was implemented, the number of people encountered has averaged at about 1,800 per day, making it unlikely the suspension will be lifted any time soon.
Under the rule, most people apprehended between ports of entry are assumed to be ineligible for asylum.To invoke an exception, asylum seekers must describe the threats they face without being asked. And the standard is not the “well-founded fear of persecution” standard set forth elsewhere in US law, but one that is far narrower, requiring them to say they “face an acute medical emergency; face an imminent and extreme threat to life or safety, such as an imminent threat of rape, kidnapping, torture, or murder; or satisfy the definition of ‘victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons.’”
Furthermore, the rules don’t provide an exception for Mexican arrivals, as previous rules had, even though they are being returned directly to the country where they fear harm.
Of the 40 people interviewed, Border Patrol referred only two families – a mother and her teenage son, and another mother with a son and daughter in their teens – to an asylum officer, the process by which an asylum claim is started. Only the mother with a teenage son had reached a hearing by an immigration judge. Asylum officers and judges interviewed the families by phone. Both families were ultimately deported after being held in custody for about a week.
Of those interviewed, 29 said they had intended to seek asylum or spoke directly about the threats they feared and were either ignored by Border Patrol, told to be silent by a Border Patrol agent, or told that “asylum no longer exists in the US.” Asylum seekers who had a chance to explicitly tell at least one Border Patrol agent about the threats they faced at home were not given an opportunity to say anything more about their fears or pursue asylum claims. Some said that Border Patrol agents shouted insults and curses at them, ripped their clothing and removed shoelaces and drawstrings on their clothing, due to a US government policy to prevent self-harm, in a violent and degrading manner.
“Border Patrol is treating asylum seekers as if they were the biggest enemies of the state and are completely dehumanizing them,” said Dora Rodriguez, director of Salvavision, a nonprofit offering aid and support to immigrants and deportees. “I have never witnessed this level of cruel treatment. I think it is happening because Biden’s policies are giving them the impression that they need to be cruel. There is absolutely no accountability.… At a minimum, the US should provide compassionate treatment and deport people with dignity.”
President-elect Donald Trump and his intended “border czar” appointee, Thomas Homan, have indicated their intention to re-institute anti-asylum policies and conduct large-scale deportations, which would significantly worsen an already-bad human rights situation for immigrants and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said.
“The incoming Trump administration has signaled an intention to run roughshod over US laws enshrining the right to asylum,” Gaubeca said. “We encourage the incoming administration to instead focus on the humanity of asylum seekers; we challenge them to acknowledge that the US has been strengthened and made vibrant by immigrants, and that both US and international law affords people the right to seek asylum and to be treated with dignity.”
The Biden and upcoming Trump administrations should direct border officials to ensure that training for agents emphasizes that people have a right to seek asylum, and that agents are required to treat people humanely and communicate in a language they understand.
Select Accounts of Border Patrol Mistreatment
The asylum seekers were interviewed in Spanish on October 22, 23, and 30. Individuals were not provided with compensation and were given the option of anonymity or not using their full names.
Human Rights Watch documented cases in which Mexican nationals were blocked by Border Patrol agents from accessing asylum procedures despite facing threats in Mexico and were then summarily returned to harm. Some also arguably fit within the exceptions to the June 2024 asylum rule, which allows for consideration of asylum claims whenever someone expresses or shows they “face an imminent and extreme threat to life or safety.” Some said they were intimidated into not speaking about the threats they faced, and that Border Patrol agents treated them inhumanely and then deported them.
Dora Rodriguez, the Salvavision director, who accompanied Human Rights Watch during two days of research, fled El Salvador during its civil war in the 1980s. She was one of 13 survivors rescued by the Border Patrol in July 1980 after they were lost for 5 days in the Arizona desert and nearly died. She has since worked with people immigrating to the United States and deportees in Mexico.
Border Patrol Agents Blocked People from Pursuing Asylum Claims
Human Rights Watch spoke to a family of six from San Miguel El Grande, Oaxaca, a region in Mexico that has experienced a sharp increase in violence. In the last two years, there have been hundreds of forced displacements and killings, including the assassination of the brother of a well-known Mexican actress. The family includes two sisters, Rocio C. and Sonya C., a sister-in-law who did not provide a name, boys ages 2 and 8; and a 10-year-old girl. They crossed into the United States near Sonoyta and were deported to Nogales, Sonora, within 24 hours.
“We left because criminals are engaging in massacres, kidnapping people, burning the forest and our homes,” Rocio said. Their intention was to ask for asylum in the United States. Rocio said she had brought documents that proved they had received threats. “The Border Patrol agents did not treat us very well; they shouted at us, used bad words, and wouldn’t let us speak.”
At one point, an agent asked her to sign a deportation order. She said she refused because she was afraid “of going back to Mexico because of the violence.” The Border Patrol agent then pointed to a bench and told her to “sit there” and averted his gaze; not looking at her again. She was then given a copy of the form that said “Refused to Sign” on the signature line. They were deported the next morning.
Marta G. (a pseudonym), is a 22-year-old pregnant woman from Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas. She said she crossed the border in the desert near Altar, Sonora. Border Patrol took her to an 80,000 square foot, soft-sided facility with tent-like structures on six acres in Tucson called, by asylum seekers, the “white tent.” Marta said she left Chiapas because her boyfriend wanted her to have an abortion, threatened to kill her, and tried to hit her.
Marta said she intended to ask for asylum. She told the Border Patrol agent, “I am afraid of going back,” but he did not allow her to explain further. As soon as she said this, the agent responded, “¡Enough! Go sit over there.” She never had another opportunity to explain the threats she feared and was deported less than 48 hours after turning herself in.
Human Rights Watch interviewed a mother, Carmen S., 26, with her son, Ian de Jesús, 3, who was from Chiapas. She said that in Border Patrol custody “treatment was very bad.” No one was allowed to speak, unless spoken to, she said. She said she asked for asylum, telling the agents that, “in Chiapas the situation is very difficult; a neighbor of mine was kidnapped and two of my cousins have been disappeared.” She told Human Rights Watch that she lived alone with her son and was afraid but that the agents did not allow her to explain further.
Margarita V., 29, and her son Jesus, 4, are from Tecate, Baja California. They crossed the border through Altar, Sonora, at around 10 p.m. on October 29 then waited 5 or 10 minutes for Border Patrol to show up. They were taken directly to the “white tent” camp in Tucson.
She tearfully said that she told Border Patrol agents that she was afraid to go back because her husband is threatening to take her son away, but that the agent was aggressive and rude. “He did not let us explain, he just said, ‘I don’t care about the problems that happen in another part of the world.’” She witnessed the agent saying similar things to other women, even if they were tearfully saying that they were afraid to go back.
“Then they told us nothing, that we sit over in that chair,” Margarita said. At about 6 a.m. on October 30, the agents told them they would be deported and made them sign a document. Margarita did not want to sign it. “Whether you sign it or not, you’re going to be deported,” the agent said.
Natalia G., 27, from Chiapas, who crossed the border on October 28 said that when she asked for asylum, Border Patrol told her that “they no longer receive people for asylum.… They didn’t want to listen to anything; they said they were going to send me to a judge, but they never did.” Then, Border Patrol told her to sign an “order of deportation.” Natalia said they told her, “It doesn’t matter if you sign or don’t sign, you are being deported.” So, she signed it. She said that agents took all of her belongings and threw them away. She could not understand why. Natalia was deported two days after she arrived in the US.
Beatriz S., 35, left Oaxaca with her daughters, Ailyn, 14, and Xarumi, 5. The family crossed the border near Altar, Sonora, on October 28 and turned themselves in to Border Patrol. They were taken to Tucson and were held in a cold place they called “an icebox.” Beatriz said she told Border Patrol agents she feared her daughters would be in danger if they returned to Mexico and the agent said, “asylum no longer exists.” She said she refused to sign any documents, and the Border Patrol agents told them they were going to be taken to their family in the United States, but instead they were deported the following day to Nogales.
A family of four from Guanajuato who crossed the border through Sonoyta on October 21 requested anonymity. They said they told border agents that they were afraid to return to Mexico, but were asked no follow-up questions. The family said they wrongly assumed that because they told the agents they were afraid, they would gain access to an asylum process. They said the agents would avert their eyes, pretend not to speak or understand Spanish, and would simply point at places they should go, a bench or holding cell.
Border Patrol Agents Silences Asylum Seekers
Carlos P., 25, and Jorge, 47, are from Culiacán, Sonora, an area that has experienced an explosion of organized crime violence following the arrest of a cartel leader by US officials in July. They said they were fleeing “narcos” that have overtaken the region. “After dark, Culiacán turns into a ghost town as people are afraid to go out on the streets because of all the shootings,” said Jorge, Carlos’s uncle.
Neither had an opportunity to express fear of being returned to Mexico. “The officials only spoke to us when they wanted us to do something,” Carlos sad. “Like when the officials wanted to take our photo, fingerprints, or DNA swabs, or told us to sign a document.”
Carina, 30, her husband, José Miguel, 29, and their two sons, 5 and 8, from Salamanca, Guanajuato, crossed the border near Sasabe, Arizona on October 22, and waited to turn themselves in. Border Patrol took them to a nearby Border Patrol station where they took their basic data, fingerprints, and DNA swabs, and then to the “white tent” in Tucson. “They never asked us why we came,” Carina said. “In fact, I had with me several videos that showed how my home was all shot up by the cartels. We were victims of organized crime.” Guanajuato has experienced a major increase in organized crime violence in recent years. After she refused to sign a deportation order, she expected to be asked why she was refusing. Instead, the agent said, “Okay, that’s fine, go sit over there.” She and her family were deported the next day.
Jenny B. (a pseudonym), 38, from Jalapa, Veracruz, crossed the border alone on October 20, near Altar, Sonora. Jenny said she waited through the night to turn herself in and was picked up by Border Patrol early the following morning. In the Tucson “white tent,” officers took away all her belongings, including shoelaces and warm outerwear. She said that agents told her “Just grab what you need and throw everything else away.”
She said that agents never asked her why she had come to the United States. She said the agents never gave people an option to speak or explain, just shouted orders, and some pretended not to speak Spanish, though agents are taught basic Spanish as part of their training. She said she refused to sign a deportation order. The Border Patrol agent said, “Okay, you do not want to sign it? Go over there and sit.” She was deported soon thereafter.
Alma S. (a pseudonym), 51, and her partner Henry S. (a pseudonym), 50, said that they left Esquintla, Chiapas, because of high levels of crime there, “if they grab you, they will kill you; they force you to leave [Esquintla].” Both had expected to be asked why they came to the US, but “There was practically no conversation … everyone seemed silenced.”
Rocio C. from San Miguel El Grande, Oaxaca, said that an agent came up to her with a large hunting knife and cut out the pull string of her hoodie. His aggressive manner scared her: “I could have pulled the string out and given it to him if he had just asked, but, instead, he tore up my shirt and cut it out, all the while smiling, as if he enjoyed scaring me.” Rocio was still wearing the hoodie and showed Human Rights Watch where it was torn.
Maria M., 37, and her children Carlos, 14, and Brenda, 17, were from Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacan. Maria had been trying to get a border patrol (CBPOne) appointment for a year without success, so they crossed the border on October 16 near Nogales. When they were picked up by Border Patrol agents about 15 minutes later, the agents asked Maria why she had come to the United States, and she replied that she came because she was afraid of crime and threats. She said she was never asked another question and had no opportunity to talk about the threats she faced.
Instead, she said, the agents “were deplorable, they would call us ‘dogs,’ and they would say ‘fuck you’ all the time.”
Carlos said, “they kept calling us ‘bigheaded ones.’” He said he had witnessed a Border Patrol agent using a large knife in a threatening manner. He used it to cut the bracelets off a woman’s wrist. He ran it back and forth, saying he was going to cut her while exhibiting “an evil grin.” Then, the Border Patrol agent nicked the woman, and her wrist started to bleed.
Mariana, 37, and her son, Carmaleal, 15, from Orizaba, Veracruz, crossed the border on October 1 in a remote location north of Altar, Sonora, and waited for Border Patrol, who showed up within the hour and told them they would return to pick them up. They waited outside in 50-degree temperatures throughout the night. The next day they were picked up at approximately 7 a.m. The bus driver was verbally abusive, using profanity and saying things like “we don’t need people like you in the US,” and “you shouldn’t come.”
Agents Strip People of Belongings
Carmen S., with her son Ian, from Chiapas, said that immediately after arriving at the “white tent” camp, Border Patrol agents told them to throw their belongings into a trash can. The family had to throw away food, water, backpacks, toys, jackets, and their shoelaces. Carmen said the agents would not even let them keep their leggings for the cold.
Marta from Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, said that at the “white tent,” she was forced to throw all her belongings away, including food, clothing, and vitamins she was taking because she was approximately four months pregnant. She was allowed to see a doctor, who refused to give her the vitamins and told her to seek medical care only if she “felt ill.”
Alberto T. (a pseudonym), 20, and Guadalupe T. (a pseudonym), 21, from Oaxaca, had crossed the border near Sasabe, Arizona, on October 19 and waited in the remote location to be picked up by Border Patrol. They said that the agents who picked them up treated them kindly, but that changed when they arrived at the “white tent,” where agents yelled at them constantly and treated them aggressively.
The agents told them to throw away their backpacks and allowed them to keep only the items they considered essential, such as phones and documents that fit into a gallon-size transparent plastic bag. They said they were not allowed to make any phone calls. Alberto said they were held “incommunicado” for three or four days.
Legal and Policy Background
Blocking access to asylum – US law states that anyone “who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival) … may apply for asylum.” US law also prohibits the return of people to countries where they may face persecution or torture. International human rights and refugee law also protect the right to seek asylum and protect against return to persecution or torture.
Contrary to these norms, the Biden June 2024 rule suspends access to asylum for asylum seekers who enter the United States without authorization when certain conditions are met. The asylum rule also does not exempt Mexicans or Canadians from its provisions, forcibly returning asylum seekers to the country of feared persecution, which violates the fundamental principle of nonrefoulement.
Intimidating asylum seekers – National standards established by US Customs and Border Protection, the US government agency that oversees the Border Patrol, state that all officers are expected to “treat all individuals with dignity and respect,” and “must communicate” to immigrants “all instructions and relevant information … in a language or manner the detainee can comprehend.” To invoke an exception, the June 2024 Biden asylum rule requires that asylum seekers articulate the threats they fear without being asked. Those interviewed said that even when they summoned the courage to speak up, Border Patrol officials ignored them.
Inhumane treatment – The requirement to “treat all individuals with dignity and respect,” echoes international human rights law to treat people in government custody with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. People interviewed said that Border Patrol is failing to uphold this basic human right.
Stripping people of belongings – In general, Border Patrol has broad authority to confiscate belongings deemed to be “health hazards” of people in their custody, and to ask people to “voluntarily” dispose of their belongings. In August 2024, Customs and Border Protection issued a new directive that states, “CBP remains committed to the handling, retaining, retrieving, and returning each detainee’s personal property…” However, the new directive also includes loopholes, stating, for example, that “Items required to be stored … [include] articles of clothing (to the extent they can be feasibly stored at any CBP Short-Term Facility).”
Given that all Mexican asylum seekers interviewed, including children, were deported without extra clothing or warm outerwear, Border Patrol agents seem to have interpreted the directive to mean that all clothing, except for the clothes they were wearing, should be thrown away.
Human Rights Watch observed a similar pattern of adults and even young children deported without their backpacks, shoelaces, sweatshirt drawstrings, jackets, warm clothes, toys, medicines, food, water, or other personal items. Border Patrol agents allowed people to keep only those belongings that fit in a gallon-size plastic bag, which meant only some documents, cell phones, jewelry, and money, both US and Mexican currency.
Similar credible accounts gathered by other groups – Similar accounts of inhumane treatment and hostility to the right to seek asylum and requirements to throw away their belongings were also included in a February 2024 report by the ACLU, Kino Border Initiative, Protect AZ Health, and the Sikh Coalition; and similar findings in a July 2024 report by the Women’s Refugee Commission, the Kino Border Initiative, the National Immigrant Justice Center, Refugees International, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, National Immigration Law Center, the Hope Border Institute, the Florence Project, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, and Human Rights First; and in an August 2024 report by Human Rights First, the Kino Border Initiative, Hope Border Institute, Raices, and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
Human Rights Watch made the following recommendations to the Biden administration and the upcoming Trump administration:
- Direct the Department of Homeland Security and US Customs and Border Protection to ensure that training for Border Patrol agents emphasizes their obligations to treat people humanely, and communicate with people in a manner and language they understand.
- Remind Border Patrol agents that asylum seekers have the right to seek asylum “irrespective of … status” as provided for in US asylum law, and that the way a person enters the United States or presents themselves to authorities is not relevant to the examination of their asylum claims.
- Revise guidelines for Border Patrol operations, to ensure that people are treated humanely. If people are deported, they should retain all belongings necessary for human dignity, health, identity, religious practice, and communication, including at a minimum outerwear, shoes with shoelaces, phones, phone chargers, medications, money, religious items, and all documents.
