ACLU of Texas Releases Human Rights Report

Today the ACLU of Texas released a human rights report based on 18 months of research and two staff investigative visits to the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Download the report (PDF)

In the report, “Missing the Mark: how national security strategies in Rio Grande Valley border communities sacrifice basic human rights and fail to make Texans safer,” we look at major issues facing this historic part of Texas:

• Growing numbers of detainees being held for long periods of time in substandard conditions;
• Growing militarization along the border as local law enforcement becomes more and more involved in enforcement of federal immigration law;
• Denial of passports to U.S. citizens birthed by midwives; and
• Construction of the Border Wall.

Testimony from detainees, their attorneys and advocates, residents and officials has been compiled to paint a picture of systemic and systematic civil and human rights violations.

Our recommendations include:

• Adoption of Obama Administration proposals for immigration law reform, particularly relating to detention;
• Training for and oversight of local law enforcement to combat organized crime instead of local enforcement of immigration law;
• Fiscal accountability relating to construction, and independent community-based assessment of the impact of the Border Wall.

We are happy to report success in three areas:

• Closure of the T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center following a successful ACLU of Texas lawsuit that won improved conditions at the facility;
• Successful settlement of an ACLU lawsuit that made it easier for U.S.citizens birthed by midwives to obtain passports; and
• Issued a report on how federal national security grants are spent along the border revealing wasted dollars and civil liberties violations that don’t make Texans safer. To view the report, please click here.