Border Patrol Agents Caught Trying to Dump Mentally Challenged Man Over Mexican Border
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, one of the most rogue law enforcement agencies in America, has a new controversy on its hands. And it’s on video—again.
This time, NBC News obtained a video showing Border Patrol agents attempting to dump a mentally challenged man in Mexico without authorization from the Mexican consulate—in an apparent violation of the repatriation agreements between the U.S. and Mexico.
U.S. officials are supposed to repatriate Mexican nationals through the Mexican consulate. They are also supposed to fingerprint them and confirm that they are actually Mexican.
In the video, a Mexican agent is heard telling the U.S. agent about this exact protocol, but the Border Patrol agent claims that he’s not dumping anyone in Mexico.
“He’s not in my custody,” the agent says, though the video clearly shows the man is in handcuffs.
The video was shot on March 27, 2017, in an area where Mexican officials say Border Patrol agents often covertly deport migrants, according to NBC. The network said the agents ultimately left the man in a park on the U.S. side of the border and lost track of his whereabouts for nearly a month.
“In the video, our actions were not consistent with our normal procedures. Corrective action was taken to ensure all our agents understand their responsibilities of adhering to established processes, practices, and policies,” Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David S. Kim told NBC News.
However, some research shows that this is a far more common occurrence than the statement would imply. The American Immigration Council interviewed 600 migrants who had been deported to Mexico between August 2016 and April 2017 and found 57% of them had been removed from the U.S. without their repatriation documents.
The agents seen in the video are still employed by the Border Patrol, according to NBC.