The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (“CRCL”) is the agency within DHS that is, according to its own website, responsible for “promoting respect for civil rights and civil liberties in policy creation and implementation,” and for “investigating and resolving civil rights and civil liberties complaints filed by the public.”
In response to our FOIA request, CRCL released approximately 4,600 pages of records, consisting of complaints submitted by legal service providers and immigrants’ rights advocates on behalf of migrant children detailing various forms of abuse. The CRCL records also consist of internal agency records documenting the limited investigations it undertook.
The International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago School of Law has written a report highlighting the experiences of migrant children (often asylum-seekers) who suffered verbal, physical, or sexual abuse from CBP officials. The appendix contains all of the original records cited in the report.
REPORT: Neglect & Abuse of Unaccompanied Children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Appendix: CRCL documents discussed in Report
1-Pager Summary: English & Spanish
For the full set of CRCL documents, please visit http://bit.ly/cpbclcrdox
Records received from each DHS sub-agency can be accessed here:
- The Office for Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
- U.S. Customs & Border Protection
- U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
- DHS Office of Inspector General
