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CBPWatch

@cbpwatch.bsky.social
1.2K followers 278 following 326 posts

Stories on accountability (or lack thereof) at Customs and Border Protection & other border law enforcement. Compiled by POGO staff (usually @krhawkins. Message for free newsletter subscription info)

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Reposted by CBPWatch
Arturo Dominguez @extremearturo.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
SCOOP: CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott attended Hegseth's meeting with generals. I reached out to the White House and CBP to ask why CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott was at Hegseth's lackluster pep rally today. The White House did not deny his presence but deferred to CBP for comment.
open.substack.com
Why Was the CBP Commissioner at Hegseth’s Meeting of Generals?
Cohesion between federal agencies and the military to target migrants and other nonwhite groups makes this another alarming observation
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
ICE arrested this guy and denied him a bond hearing even though he: - Has lived here for 32 years. - Has no criminal record - Is head of quality assurance and safety for a painting company - Has six U.S. citizen relatives - Suffered a stroke in 2022 and needs ongoing care. - Wasn't even a target.
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
"Among those arrested was David, a 31-year-old healthcare worker...David, who is gay, was wearing a rainbow Pride wristband as he says he was simply trying to pee when he was arrested."
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Nadia Reiman @nadiareiman.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Hi! We made a show for you about what’s been happening at immigration court: www.thisamericanlife.org/868/the-hand...
thisamericanlife.org
The Hand That Rocks The Gavel - This American Life
A group of immigration judges, who almost never speak to the press, describes the dismantling of our immigration court system from the inside.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 21/09/2025
NEW: Air Force jets are doing ICE flights to Africa with transponders turned off, making them nearly un-trackable. This includes the third-country removal to Ghana and another secret flight. We figured out where it landed. From me for @rollingstone.com: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
ICE Is Deporting People to Africa on Nearly Un-Trackable Military Flights
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is deporting people to African countries like Ghana on military flights that are nearly un-trackable.
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
López Alvarado said that she tried to tell agents that her baby was due soon. “OK, your baby is going to be born here, but you're from Mexico, right?” they responded. "I was born here," López Alvarado later told Spanish-language media. "I was born in Los Angeles; I was born in Hollywood Hospital.”
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Arturo Dominguez @extremearturo.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
On Thursday, House Democrats held a shadow hearing titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Assault Destroys U.S. Families and Communities" to discuss many issues surrounding the White House’s mass deportation policies. A story you will only get here. open.substack.com/pub/extremea...
open.substack.com
VIDEOS: Shadow Hearing: ICE Kidnapping Civilians, Racially Profiling Latinos
A shadow hearing in the House covered many of the inconsistencies, lies, and propaganda used to target Latino and Black communities
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Ariana Figueroa @arianalfigueroa.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
‘Crumbled like a house of cards’: Judge slams DOJ claims about deporting migrant children www.newsfromthestates.com/article/crum...
newsfromthestates.com
‘Crumbled like a house of cards’: Judge slams DOJ claims about deporting migrant children
WASHINGTON — A federal judge Thursday barred the Trump administration from deporting unaccompanied children to Guatemala, finding that the administration’s claim of reuniting the children with their p...
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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
I can’t watch because I’m on a deadline but strongly recommend this thread bsky.app/profile/reic...
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Laura Barrón-López @lbarronlopez.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
NEWS: ICE's Chantilly office is a "black box" where conditions are increasingly dire, attorneys & a relative of person detained tell @msnbc.com - 1 meal a day = a single burrito - some 40-90 ppl crammed into room, sleeping on concrete - Some held as long as 7 days www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/v...
msnbc.com
Inside a Virginia ICE office: One meal a day, 40 people in a room and no bathing for days
"The situation is getting worse by the day," warns Amy Fischer, an organizer with Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid. "It is an office; it is not intended to detain people."
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Mónica C. Camacho @mc2x.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Happy burning of Zozobra to those who celebrate! www.youtube.com/live/6NfsnBO...
youtube.com
LIVE COVERAGE: 101st Burning of Zozobra
YouTube video by KOAT
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
“For the third time in slightly more than a week, grand jurors in Washington have rejected efforts by federal prosecutors to obtain an indictment against a resident accused of a felony assault against a federal agent.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
nytimes.com
Grand Juries in D.C. Reject Prosecutors’ Efforts to Level Harsh Charges Against Residents
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Project On Government Oversight @pogo.org · 29/08/2025
POGO's David Janovsky is in CNN warning that further domestic deployments to cities is "an inherently escalatory situation that puts … the folks who live in these cities and service members who are sent in in a dangerous and volatile situation.”
amp.cnn.com
Following LA and DC, Trump wants to send the National Guard to other US cities. Here’s how he can do it | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump is hoping to replicate his law enforcement efforts in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, in cities across the country, with the administration making moves to once again use the US...
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Greenberg Visa Law @asgvisalaw.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
And how many are they holding at unauthorized facilities?!
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Hamed Aleaziz @haleaziz.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Our profile of Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol chief leading the immigration crackdown in Los Angeles: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/u...
nytimes.com
The Border Patrol Chief Leading the California Immigration Crackdown
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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Border Patrol document--OPR preliminary summary of investigation (such as it was) of the death of Roberto Carlos Montoya Valdez (RIP). www.cbp.gov/newsroom/nat.... No mention of OPR agents reviewing body camera footage. Did they not wear or not activate their cameras?
cbp.gov
Summary of Incident: Fatality of an Unknown Pedestrian who was Struck by a Vehicle on I-210 in Monrovia, California
Securing America's Borders
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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The CBP officer who was hit with the sandwich heard round the world looks to be a Border Patrol agent who was serving in Yuma sector in 2022? www.army.mil/article/2535...
army.mil
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Just Futures Law @justfutureslaw.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
DHS took DNA from immigrant children and stored it in a database. "The agency’s aggressive DNA collection is but one node in a broader effort to redefine policing through vast use of biometric and behavioral data." This is what massive genetic surveillance looks like.
wired.com
DHS Faces New Pressure Over DNA Taken From Immigrant Children
The US government has added the DNA of approximately 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which critics say could mean police treat them like suspects “indefinitely.”
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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Border patrol technically…
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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Account from local DC elected official of an aICE/CBP arrest in DC www.instagram.com/p/DN2Keab2Fg...
instagram.com
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
🚨Border Patrol arrested two firefighters who were actively fighting a wildfire at the time. When the other members of the crew asked for a chance to say goodbye, a Border Patrol agent told the crew member “you need to get the f*ck out of here. I’m going to make you leave.”
In images shared by firefighters from the scene, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle is parked nearby. Officers wearing
"Police" vests are seen arresting a firefighter, while another appears to be restrained.
According to one of the firefighters, they were denied the chance to say goodbye to the detained crew members.
"I asked them if his (family) can say goodbye to him because they're family, and they're just ripping them away," the firefighter told the Times. "And this is what he said: 'You need to get the (expletive) out of here. I'm gonna make you leave.'"
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Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · 27/08/2025
“Reports of mistreatment have been widespread and have included disturbing details of overcrowding, food shortages, lack of adequate medical care, and unsanitary conditions.”
texasobserver.org
Dems in Congress Are Being Denied Access to ICE Facilities. Now They’re Suing.
As immigration enforcement spending ramps up, oversight mechanisms have been stifled—including for members of Congress.
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Kathleen Bush-Joseph @kathleenbush.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
"Federal judge blocks Trump from swiftly deporting immigrants granted parole" The decision could present a major hurdle for the Trump admin & bar federal immigration officers from summarily deporting hundreds of thousands I talked to the @washingtonpost.com about yesterday's ruling
washingtonpost.com
Federal judge blocks Trump from swiftly deporting immigrants granted parole
The decision could present a major hurdle for the Trump administration and bar federal immigration officers from summarily deporting hundreds of thousands of people.
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Mohammad Tajsar @mtajsar.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
"This decision is further confirmation that the administration's paramilitary invasion of Los Angeles violated the Constitution and caused irreparable injury across the region." More on our win from this evening: www.aclusocal.org/en/press-rel...
aclusocal.org
Ninth Circuit Court Denies Stay in L.A. Raids Case
Decision leaves temporary order in place, barring DHS from unlawful stop practices
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Felipe De La Hoz @felipedlh.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
For @slate.com, I wrote about one dimension of the totalizing Trump/Miller immigration crackdown that's not getting enough notice, which is that they're moving to make indefinite detention — with no release dates and few options to get out — a norm
slate.com
How Trump Made One of the Most Controversial Post-9/11 Policies the New Normal
Thousands of other people are going to get put into detention of indeterminate length with far less recourse, which could stretch years.
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Here is one of ~50 cases we documented of federal agents--usually masked and unidentified--smashing car windows to grab the person inside. “She is pregnant!” a man screamed, as his citizen wife sat, terrified The agents break three windows and grab the man projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...
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Sarah Pierce @sarahpierce.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act handed ICE $45 billion to expand ICE detention. A rural hospital costs ~$80-120 million each year. The amount handed to ICE is enough to run 50 rural hospitals for more than a decade.
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
“According to the post, Kim spent more than seven days at an SFO detention center without daylight, sleeping in a chair and having no access to an attorney.”
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Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
ICE just dropped updated detention statistics through July 27. ICE reports detaining a total of 56,945 on that date. www.ice.gov/detain/deten...
ice.gov
Detention Management
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 31/07/2025
Just days ago, Relevant Research released DetentionReports.com and already news outlets are finding it to be a powerful tool for reporting and transparency. 👀 Congrats to Adam & Sunita for getting this done! Learn more at: austinkocher.substack.com/p/new-tool-d...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 31/07/2025
Officers who shatter car windows aren’t being disciplined — they’re being promoted. One ICE official who smashed a window in front of a local TV reporter now has a senior ICE position overseeing operations on the East Coast.
projects.propublica.org
“We’ll Smash the Fucking Window Out and Drag Him Out”
We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a…
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KatherineHawkins @krhawkins.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Immigration twitter question: where have ICE body cameras been deployed? (I know a fair bit about CBP body cams, much less about ICE)
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Citizens, crying kids, pregnant women, people who aren't the target...it doesn't seem to matter who's inside the car when immigration officers want to make an arrest. They smash the window anyway @mckenziefunk.com & I tracked these arrests all over the U.S. projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...
projects.propublica.org
Bloodied Faces, Sobbing Children: Immigration Officers Smash Car Windows to Speed Up Arrests
We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...
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Austin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 29/07/2025
I've studied the immigration enforcement system for 15 years. Democrats may express outrage at Republicans over Trump's immigration policies now, but the truth about who to blame is much more complicated. austinkocher.substack.com/p/the-immigr...
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CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Latest: I got the medical examiner report on Marie Blaise, who died of a heart attack in ICE custody Blaise's son told an investigator that he spoke with her on the phone the day of her death, and she complained of chest pains and said staff wouldn't let her see a doctor reason.com/2025/07/30/w...
reason.com
Woman who died of heart disease in ICE custody reportedly told son she wasn't allowed to see doctor for chest pains
Questions about the death of Marie Blaise at a South Florida ICE detention center have lingered since she collapsed in April.
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perla-trevizo.bsky.social @perla-trevizo.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Watch three of the more than 230 men the Trump administration sent to #ElSalvador talk about the moment they arrived at #CECOT, how they say the guards tortured them and beat them daily: youtu.be/6KZRtCE2UcI from ‪@g-dvalle.bsky.social‬ and the entire team @propublica.org‬ and in Venezuela.
youtu.be
Beatings, Humiliation, Psychological Abuse: What Venezuelan Men Experienced Inside CECOT
YouTube video by ProPublica
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 30/07/2025
NEW: We interviewed nine Venezuelan men who were sent to CECOT by the Trump administration. Some said their feelings about what happened were still raw. All of the men said they were abused physically and mentally during their imprisonment.
propublica.org
Now That They’re Free, Venezuelan Men Want the World to Know What They Endured in CECOT
Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration say they endured months of physical and mental abuse inside a Salvadoran prison. Though happy to be home, they say the fact that they were released ...
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
A half-dozen Maryland Congress members Monday were unlawfully denied access to a federal immigration field office used to temporarily hold people facing deportation: www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-pow...
thebaltimorebanner.com
Maryland members of Congress denied tour of Baltimore ICE detention site
A half-dozen Maryland members of Congress were denied access to a federal immigration field office used to temporarily hold people facing deportation.
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Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
My colleagues and I from @relevantresearch.bsky.social have developed a tool that provides updated ICE detention population estimates for facilities in the US and territories. Introducing DetentionReports.com
The top section of DetentionReports.com. Example is Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility.
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Sam Levin @samtlevin.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
NEW: Border patrol made false claims about Los Angeles protesters it jailed, misrepresenting basic facts of events that were filmed. I obtained records of officers acknowledging + "apologizing" for errors The DOJ is now dismissing cases, an embarrassment for Trump-appointed US attorney Bill Essayli
theguardian.com
Dropped cases against LA protesters reveal false claims from federal agents
Revealed: records show border patrol gave inaccurate testimony about people it jailed. Prosecutors now face ‘embarrassing’ dismissals
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Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 21/07/2025
NEW: The United States government has subjected immigrants detained in three Florida facilities to abusive, degrading, and in some cases life-threatening conditions. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Did Border Patrol commit an ‘egregious violation’ of UFW injunction in Sacramento arrests? www.sacbee.com/news/califor...
sacbee.com
Did Border Patrol commit an ‘egregious violation’ in Sacramento immigration arrests?
The operation appears to directly violate a court injunction issued in April to require warrants by Border Patrol, according to two law professors.
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Emily Bregel @emilybregel.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent Bart Yager, of Willcox, has been indicted on 24 felony charges, including 10 counts of child sex trafficking. He's the 4th in a series of CBP agents and officers in Arizona to be arrested on sexual misconduct charges in the last 4 years. tucson.com/news/local/s...
tucson.com
Border agent charged with child sex trafficking, fraud in Cochise County
A Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent has been indicted on 24 felony charges, the latest in a series of sexual-misconduct convictions or charges against CBP employees in Arizona.
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Adam Sawyer @adamjst.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
From yesterday. The number of people at that facility in the Everglades should have been reported.
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Noah Lanard @nlanard.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
A sister as well as a friend of Neri Alvarado Borges confirm that he is now back in Venezuela. Neri's wrongful imprisonment attracted international attention. He is the 25-year-old with an autism awareness ribbon tattooed on his leg. This is him leaving the plane.
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CBPWatch @cbpwatch.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
Thread re CECOT prisoner exchange: bsky.app/profile/krha...
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Office of NYC Comptroller Mark Levine @nyccomptroller.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Immigration court felt like a murderous reality show today. The judge granted two gentlemen asylum hearings in 2029. But it was all a sham—They were abducted by ICE before they left the building. There is more the City & the State must do. We cannot allow the rule of law to be eroded case by case.
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United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
This happened this morning in Sacramento in a Home Depot parking lot. No one should fear for their lives when going to work or just existing in their own community. Violent tactics put everyone at risk, especially when carried out with no regard for constitutional rights, safety or basic dignity.
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