Decades of Anti-Immigration Policy Created "Mass Grave" at Southern Border
Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Border Patrol tactics, including aggressive force and alleged cover-ups, are expanding from the U.S.-Mexico border into interior cities.
- ❖The 'prevention through deterrence' border strategy is framed as a 'killing strategy' responsible for thousands of migrant deaths.
- ❖CBP and Border Patrol are accused of systemic corruption, self-investigation, and evidence manipulation in use-of-force incidents.
- ❖Official death tolls at the border are significantly underestimated, with a former agent estimating up to 80,000 deaths since 1994.
- ❖ICE and CBP budgets have surged to a record $33.5 billion, with further increases expected, fueling more of the same enforcement strategies.
Insights
1Border Patrol Tactics Expand Nationwide, Mirroring Borderlands Operations
The aggressive policies and practices, including surveillance techniques and technologies, historically observed in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, are now being extended into interior cities like Minneapolis and Chicago through operations such as 'Metro Surge' and 'Midway Blitz'. This expansion effectively 'imposes the border' across the entire country, utilizing DHS forces, which originated as a counter-terror domestic army post-9/11.
Todd Miller describes these operations as an 'extension of what we've been seeing... in the US Mexico borderlands now for decades' () and states 'it's almost as if the border itself is imposed in these operations in places like Minneapolis' ().
2'Prevention Through Deterrence' Policy as a 'Killing Strategy'
Border policies implemented since the 1990s, such as Operation Gatekeeper and Operation Hold the Line, focused on building walls, increasing surveillance, and hiring more agents to enforce a 'prevention through deterrence' strategy. This strategy, designed to make border crossing more difficult and dangerous, has resulted in a high mortality rate, leading to at least 10,000 documented deaths and an estimated 80,000 deaths by a former agent due to exposure and harsh conditions.
Todd Miller states that this strategy 'really has been a killing strategy' () and notes 'at least 10,000 people who have died crossing the border due to these strategies' (). Jen Bud corrects the official statistic, stating 'that number is way too low' and estimates 'about 80,000 since October of 1994' ().
3Systemic Corruption and Self-Investigation within Border Patrol/CBP
Management within Border Patrol has been corrupt for generations, and after 9/11, the agency received significant funding with little accountability. They designed their own accountability systems, filling investigative roles with their own agents. Critical Incident Teams, established in 1987, are accused of manipulating evidence and removing witnesses in use-of-force incidents, a pattern seen in cases like Anastasio Hernandez Rojas's death in 2010 and recent shootings.
Jen Bud states, 'the management of the border patrol has been corrupt for many generations' () and 'we just gave them money with little accountability and let them design their own accountability systems which we then filled with our own agents' (). She adds that Critical Incident Teams 'literally will manipulate the evidence' and 'get rid of witnesses' ().
4Massive Budget Increases for ICE and CBP Fueling Current Strategies
The combined budgets for ICE and CBP have reached a record $33.5 billion, a significant increase from $20 billion during the first Trump administration. Further increases are anticipated, including a $170 billion influx from a 'big beautiful bill act'. This substantial funding is expected to perpetuate and expand the existing enforcement strategies, rather than addressing the underlying issues or changing tactics.
Todd Miller reports, 'the combined budgets of ICE and CBP are $33.5 billion, and that's the largest it's ever been' (), noting it started at '$20 billion' under Trump () and is expected to be '$34.5 billion' next year, with a '$170 billion influx' from a bill ().
Bottom Line
The U.S. immigration system, through its policies, has effectively created a 'mass grave' at the southern border, with official death tolls vastly underreporting the true human cost.
This reframes the border crisis from a policy debate to a humanitarian catastrophe, implying a deliberate or negligent outcome of deterrence strategies rather than an unforeseen consequence.
Advocacy for a radical shift in immigration policy, focusing on humanitarian pathways and accountability for agency actions, rather than increased enforcement funding.
The expansion of Border Patrol's 'border landscape' into interior U.S. cities means that tactics and lack of accountability previously confined to remote border areas are now affecting a broader population, particularly in 'Democratic-led cities'.
This suggests a militarization of domestic law enforcement and a blurring of lines between border security and urban policing, potentially eroding civil liberties for all citizens, not just immigrants.
Local and state governments, along with civil rights organizations, can challenge the jurisdiction and tactics of federal border agencies operating within their communities, demanding transparency and accountability.
Lessons
- Question official narratives and statistics regarding border deaths and use-of-force incidents, as they may be significantly underestimated or manipulated.
- Recognize that federal border enforcement agencies (Border Patrol, ICE, CBP) are alleged to operate with systemic impunity and self-investigation, potentially hindering true accountability.
- Understand that the 'border' is increasingly being extended into the interior of the country through federal operations, impacting communities far from geographical borders.
- Consider the immense financial investment (tens of billions annually) in border enforcement and its connection to perpetuating current 'deterrence' strategies and their human cost.
Quotes
"This is the training. This is what we've been doing for decades upon decades. The ramming of the vehicles, the injuring people, the shooting people, and then lying about it is what happened prior to 9/11 and then really got a lot of juice after 9/11."
"Our immigration policies have created a mass grave down here on the southern border which unfortunately most of the media has ignored and most of our Congress members don't seem to care. That is what our immigration system is. It is an obstacle death for most people and we do not allow people to present themselves legally."
"It's almost as if the border itself is imposed in these operations in places like Minneapolis and it becomes what a place where you have this these counter because you have to think of the of the DHS forces when they first as a counterterror because it came right out of 9/11, right? a counterterror kind of domestic army as as one person has put it that is now in putting a sort of border landscape in our cities."
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