Border Patrol agents work in dangerous situations which can lead to tragic consequences like the shooting death and wounding of agents in Arizona . There is no justification for such violence targeting law enforcement officers. Yet there is also a crisis regarding use-of-force by Customs and Border Protection that is severely damaging the agency鈥檚 integrity (CBP is the Border Patrol鈥檚 parent and includes officers who work at ports of entry). The many recorded incidents of CBP and abuses demand a comprehensive, independent investigation of CBP policies and practices, as requested by , the , and the . A permanent, arm鈥檚-length oversight commission for CBP must also be created.
It鈥檚 not every day that the President of Mexico implies that an American law enforcement agent committed criminal homicide. This past weekend, the asked 鈥渉ow many Americans have heard of Guillermo Ar茅valo Pedroza? He was killed [in September] by a bullet fired from a U.S. Border Patrol boat while picnicking with his wife and two young girls on the south side of the Rio Grande, near Laredo, Texas. 鈥楴othing happened in the legal institutions of this country,鈥� [Mexican President] Calder贸n says with evident restraint, noting that another 14 Mexicans have been killed in roughly similar ways this year alone. 鈥楾his father was not trying to cross the border, he was trying to pass a good day with his kids.鈥欌��
The Border Patrol agents claimed rocks were being thrown at them from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, although 鈥淸a] posted online by a Nuevo Laredo news organization showed the shooting, but didn鈥檛 show any rock throwing.鈥� from Laredo are that Mr. Ar茅valo died in the arms of his 9-year-old daughter. Disputed facts aside, a cross-border shooting seems an inappropriate and unnecessary escalation of force.
Fatal Border Patrol shootings have occurred with dismaying frequency; others reported extensively include (near Brownsville, Texas on July 7, 2012); U.S. citizen , 19, shot in the back three times while allegedly fleeing to Mexico (near Douglas, Arizona on March 21, 2011); and 15-year-old Sergio Adri谩n Hern谩ndez Guereca (near El Paso, Texas on June 7, 2010).
CBP can鈥檛 ignore systemic use-of-force problems because of pending confidential investigations into individual cases. The agency must instead engage with the public and make clear whether or not it abides by best law enforcement practices, such as training agents to prioritize de-escalation techniques and equipping agents with protective gear that reduces their risk of injury and corresponding need to use potentially deadly force. Moreover, CBP should explain in detail what disciplinary actions it takes for violations of use-of-force policies and what plans it has to install officer, hold room, and dashboard-mounted cameras to record its operations. If CBP use-of-force policies and investigation protocols differ from best practices, these differences must be publicly justified.
CBP鈥檚 credibility is on the line: while the agency stays the course of silence its questionable use-of-force cases keep accumulating. Last weekend, in San Diego, an American citizen mother of five was shot dead by a plainclothes Border Patrol agent. The Border Patrol鈥檚 is that the agent 鈥渨as carried several hundred yards [on the hood of the car] before he discharged his weapon through the windshield of the vehicle.鈥� Multiple published accounts contradict this version of events; , 鈥淸w]itness Ashley Guilbeau told KMFB-TV that the plainclothes agent walked toward the front of the car shooting 鈥榓bout 12 times鈥� without identifying himself: 鈥榃ithout her even able to say a word, I didn鈥檛 hear anything, [he] just came across and just shot at the windshield many times.鈥欌��
Earlier this year, PBS鈥檚 featured the death in May 2010 of Anastacio Hern谩ndez Rojas, who left behind a widow and five U.S.-born children in San Diego. PBS obtained eyewitness video of what are alleged to be five Tasings by CBP officers of a man handcuffed and surrounded by about a dozen agents, one of whom appears to have his knee on the man鈥檚 neck. The words 鈥渜uit resisting鈥� are heard over the prone man. The coroner鈥檚 office classified Mr. Hern谩ndez Rojas鈥檚 death as a homicide, noting in addition to his heart attack: 鈥渟everal loose teeth; bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine.鈥� CBP鈥檚 version of events a 鈥渃ombative鈥� person: force was needed to 鈥渟ubdue the individual and maintain officer safety.鈥� It took two years 鈥� and PBS鈥檚 broadcast of the video 鈥� for a to be convened.
Americans don鈥檛 know what really happened in any of these cases. The 吃瓜直播 is certain, however, that use-of-force incidents like those described must not be swept under the carpet without full CBP transparency. CBP proudly declares itself to be the largest law enforcement agency in the United States; that mantle carries responsibility to be accountable to the American public.
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Press ReleaseJun 2025
Criminal Law Reform
Supreme Court Affirms First Step Act Sentencing Reductions. Explore Press Release.Supreme Court Affirms First Step Act Sentencing Reductions
WASHINGTON 鈥� The Supreme Court ruled today that the sentencing reductions under the First Step Act of 2018 apply to people whose pre-Act sentences are vacated and who are subject to resentencing after the law鈥檚 enactment. The First Step Act was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2018 to reduce the federal prison population, reform extreme sentencing laws, and expand rehabilitation and reentry programs. Among its provisions, the law significantly lowered mandatory minimum sentences for certain federal drug and firearm offenses. Today鈥檚 decision means that people who were originally sentenced prior to the First Step Act but resentenced after the law鈥檚 effective date can benefit from these critical sentencing reforms. 鈥淔or many people facing extreme sentences of 50-plus years, applying the First Step Act can be the difference between dying in prison and having a chance to return home,鈥� said Emma Andersson, deputy director of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淭he First Step Act was a landmark achievement in federal sentencing reform, and this decision ensures that it will mitigate extreme and outdated sentencing laws for more people. The 吃瓜直播 was vocal about supporting the First Step Act when it was passed, and we continue to advocate for the law to be fully implemented as Congress intended.鈥� 鈥淲e hail today鈥檚 decision in Hewitt as a win for the common-sense sentencing reform Congress enacted with the First Step Act,鈥� said Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the 吃瓜直播. 鈥淛ustice Jackson, writing for the majority, speaks with the authority of a federal sentencing expert, and the language and purpose of the statute has always been clear. Individuals who are being resentenced get the benefit of Congress鈥檚 reform.鈥� The 吃瓜直播, 吃瓜直播 of Texas, CATO Institute, Due Process Institute, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and FAMM, working with Covington & Burling, filed an amicus brief in support of the petitioners who sought application of the First Step Act in their cases and resolution of a split in the courts of appeals on the law鈥檚 reach in cases like theirs. The question at issue is of exceptional importance to people facing resentencing, and applying the First Step Act in these cases is consistent with Congress鈥� intent. This case is part of the 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket. The amicus brief can be found here. -
Iowa Supreme CourtJun 2025
Criminal Law Reform
State V. Hidlebaugh. Explore Case.State v. Hidlebaugh
This case asks whether it violates equal protection principles to impose a prison sentence, instead of probation, based on a defendant鈥檚 inability to purchase a house. The 吃瓜直播鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative and the 吃瓜直播 of Iowa filed an amicus brief arguing that imposing a harsher sentence based on a criminal defendant鈥檚 inability to purchase a home impinges on the equal protection guarantees in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and article I, sections 1 and 6 of the Iowa Constitution. -
Michigan Supreme CourtJun 2025
Criminal Law Reform
State V. Fenderson. Explore Case.State v. Fenderson
This case asks whether the government can elicit inculpatory statements from a defendant by giving him misleading information about his rights and applying coercive pressure, then using the statements against him in a criminal case. The 吃瓜直播鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative and the 吃瓜直播 of Michigan filed an amicus brief arguing that such actions by the government violate a defendant鈥檚 rights under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, independently, Article 1, Section 17 of the Michigan Constitution, which affords even broader protections against self-incrimination than the Fifth Amendment. -
TennesseeMay 2025
Criminal Law Reform
Prisoners' Rights
State V. Bishop. Explore Case.State v. Bishop
This case presents two questions: first, whether, under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, Union City Police Department officers possessed probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of the defendant鈥檚 vehicle based exclusively on the alleged odor of cannabis, and second, whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to overturn the defendant鈥檚 conviction. The 吃瓜直播鈥檚 Criminal Reform Legal Project and State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 吃瓜直播 of Tennessee filed an amicus brief arguing first, that after Tennessee鈥檚 legalization of hemp in 2019, an officer鈥檚 alleged detection of the odor of cannabis is insufficient to establish probable cause to conduct a warrantless search of a vehicle in Tennessee, and second, that the court of appeals improperly held that it lacked jurisdiction to overturn the defendant鈥檚 conviction.