Advocacy Groups Update Website Exposing Border-Related Abuse and Litigation

New updates have been posted to www.HoldCBPAccountable.org, including a challenge to President Biden's June 2024 Interim Final Rul categorically excluding certain asylum seekers from access to asylum, and more. Visit the website to learn more about ongoing efforts to hold CBP accountable.

Recent Developments Include

• Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services are organizational plaintiffs challenging President Biden’s June 4, 2024 Interim Final rule categorically excluding certain asylum seekers from access to asylum based on where and when they entered the country at the southern border.
• Texas Civil Rights Project and Haitian Bridge Alliance filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) seeking information regarding the death of an 8-year-old girl while she was in CBP custody in May 2023.
• The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a May 2024 report to Congress concluding that CBP could take additional steps to strengthen its response to incidents involving its personnel—including incidents that result in serious injury, death, and use of excessive force.
• The family of an indigenous Arizona man filed a wrongful death lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) after CBP shot and killed Raymond Mattia during an investigation taking place near his home on the Tohono O’odham reservation.
• Several organizations have filed suit against CBP under FOIA seeking more information about the CBP One app:
  • Al Otro Lado, Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, and Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit seeking information on the app related to accessibility and use by asylum seekers with disabilities;
  • Access Now, a digital rights advocacy organization, and the Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic filed a lawsuit seeking records related to personal data collected by the app, the use of collected personal data, and the sharing of personal data outside the U.S. government.
• In Al Otro Lado, et al., v. Mayorkas, et al., the Southern District of California requested additional briefing on how President Biden’s June 4, 2024 presidential action restricting access for asylum seekers at the southern U.S. border will affect plaintiffs’ claims regarding the CBP One Turnback Policy.

HoldCBPAccountable.org is a joint project of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the American Immigration Council, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.