Democrats ask for information on specialized Border Patrol teams

Congressional Democrats on Monday called on the Biden administration to clarify the Border Patrol’s internal investigations into allegations of misconduct by agents.

In a Monday letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Chris Magnus, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chairs of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee, asked about the Border Patrol’s use of “critical incident teams” (CITs) to respond to emergencies and investigate allegations against agents. 

“Congress has not provided the U.S. Border Patrol with specific authority to conduct investigations of its agents’ misconduct, and the CBP Commissioner has not publicly delegated this authority to Border Patrol,” wrote Maloney and Thompson. 

“Despite the apparent lack of authority to investigate agent misconduct, Border Patrol appears to have created special teams of agents to investigate and collect evidence following incidents that may create criminal or civil liability, including allegations of excessive use of force,” they added.

CBP is the Border Patrol’s parent agency.

Human rights groups have been vocal in calling on Congress to investigate CITs, which according to Maloney and Thompson “are not mentioned in the most recent version of CBP’s Use of Force Administrative Guidelines and Procedures Handbook.”

According to the Southern Border Communities Coalition, the Border Patrol has used what the coalition calls “shadow police units” dating back to 1987. 

While CITs are not in the CBP manual, the agency recognized the existence of Border Patrol “teams with specialized evidence collection capabilities” after advocates denounced the existence of CITs in November. 

Maloney and Thompson referenced the investigation that followed the 2010 killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, who died in Border Patrol custody, reportedly after being beaten and tasered while handcuffed.

The federal investigation into Hernández’s death found his killing “justifiable,” but advocates say the case is a prime example of the dangers of a self-investigating law enforcement agency.

“One Critical Incident Team allegedly tampered with evidence during the 2010 investigation of the killing of Anastasio Hernández Rojas. In particular, the Critical Incident Team assigned to that case allegedly served an administrative subpoena for Mr. Hernandez Rojas’s medical records and then refused to provide San Diego Police Department investigators with the records,” wrote Maloney and Thompson.

“The Critical Incident Team also allegedly altered the Border Patrol apprehension report to remove the narrative of the border agent who first encountered Mr. Hernandez Rojas, and failed to preserve video footage of the incident requested by the San Diego Police Department,” they added. 

In a separate letter on the matter to Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller Gene Dodaro Monday, Maloney and Thompson were joined by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.); Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chair of the Senate Oversight Committee; Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration; Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security; Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) chair of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Management; Rep. Zoe Lofgren, chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship; and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

That letter asked GAO to investigate CBP’s use of CITs, focusing on the groups’ evidence-collecting mission. 

“We would like to better understand the roles and responsibilities of these Critical Incident Teams, including their authorities, activities, training and oversight,” the members wrote.

CBP officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.