CBP Use of Force Case Summaries
CBP continues to implement significant policy, procedural and programmatic initiatives that ensure the safety of CBP personnel while striving to earn the public trust. To that end, CBP established U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Use of Force Review Board (NUFRB) in December 2014 as part of the many initiatives adopted by CBP to increase accountability and transparency.
The NUFRB is a committee of senior leaders from CBP, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assigned to review use of force incidents resulting in serious physical injury or death, or any incident involving the discharge of a firearm in a non-training setting. The board reviews cases that have completed the investigative process and have been declined for prosecution by either a U.S. Attorney, state or local prosecutor.
The board considers the following:
Whether use of force is within policy;
Whether there is possible misconduct associated with the application of force; and
Whether lessons can be learned from the incident in terms of techniques, tactics, policy, training and equipment.
Following senior agency leadership concurrence or non-concurrence with the NUFRB’s conclusions, the Commissioner makes the final determination regarding whether the use of force was within policy.
Below are summaries of use of force cases that have completed CBP’s internal review process as well as the conclusions of the NUFRB’s review of those cases.
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On Sept. 26, 2016, Border Patrol cameras spotted a group of approximately eight unidentified subjects wading across the Rio Grande from Mexico to Laredo, Texas. The area was well-known for both....
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On the afternoon of Sept. 8, 2016, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Nogales Border Patrol Station attempted to stop two vehicles on the highway north of the Mariposa Port of Entry (POE) in Nogales....
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On Sept. 7 2016, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents from the Rio Grande Valley Sector Field Intelligence Team (FIT) had been advised that a principal participant in a violent Michoacan, Mexico-based....
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On Aug. 27, 2016, two Border Patrol Agents were responding separately to a Border Patrol camera activation on Old Highway 81 near Pembina, North Dakota, when they encountered a suspicious vehicle....
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In the early morning hours of July 15, 2016, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) cameras spotted a group of suspected undocumented non-citizens who had waded across the Rio Grande River in Laredo, Texas. Agents....
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On June 9, 2016, Border Patrol Agents from the Yuma Border Patrol Station were performing patrol duties near the Colorado River when Border Patrol cameras detected three subjects crossing into the....
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On April 19, 2016, Border Patrol Agents from the Casa Grande Border Patrol Station were tracking a group of suspected drug smugglers in a remote area of the Tohono O’Odham Nation Reservation in....
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On April 7, 2016 two Border Patrol agents from the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Team (BORTAC) were working as a surveillance team (in conjunction with other BORTAC teams) near Arizona City, AZ. The....
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On the morning of March 21, 2016, a CBP officer assigned to the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona encountered a pedestrian in the primary vehicle inspection lanes. After a brief....
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On March 14, 2016, at the San Ysidro, California, Port of Entry (POE), CBP was notified by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) that they were in pursuit of a stolen pickup truck southbound towards the....
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