ACLU Applauds U.S. Representatives Jamie Raskin and Rashida Tlaib for Calling on the Department of Homeland Security to Respond to Group’s Report on Discriminatory Treatment of Michigan Immigrants
Raskin and Tlaib sent a letter to DHS following ACLU’s 50-page report documenting how U.S. Border Patrol routinely targets drivers based on the color of their skin and the language they speak.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2021
CONTACT: Ann Mullen, (313) 400-8562, amullen@aclumich.org
DETROIT – The ACLU of Michigan (ACLU) applauds Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin and Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who announced today that they sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, seeking a briefing about allegations of abuse and discrimination by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The letter comes after the ACLU published a 50-page report in March, “The Border’s Long Shadow: How Border Patrol uses Racial Profiling and Local and State Police to Target and Instill Fear in Michigan’s Immigrant Communities.” Raskin is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Tlaib is a member of the Subcommittee. They cite in their letter that the ACLU report documents how Border Patrol, which defines the entire state to be within its jurisdiction, routinely engages in racial profiling – stopping, searching and detaining people of Latin American origin at disproportionate levels.
“We are cautiously optimistic that this briefing can be the catalyst for reforms that will put an end to the abusive treatment of communities of color suffering at the hands of Border Patrol,” says Monica Andrade, ACLU of Michigan attorney and co-author of the report. “People of Latin American origin have far too long been targets of Border Patrol because of the color of their skin and the language they speak. DHS must account for Border Patrol’s racist tactics.”