Decades of Anti-Immigration Policy Created "Mass Grave" at Southern Border

Border Patrol's Expanded Role and Tactics

• 🚨 The Trump administration is expanding the Border Patrol's role in interior enforcement, a shift historically handled by ICE alone.
• 🎯 Operations like "Operation Metro Surge" and "Midway Blitz" in cities like Minneapolis and Chicago are described as an extension of policies and practices seen for decades on the U.S.-Mexico border.
• ⚠️ Border Patrol is characterized by a culture of rampant abuse and impunity, with aggressive tactics and little transparency.

Systemic Issues and Lack of Accountability

• 🏛️ The management of Border Patrol has been corrupt for many generations, with significant funding increases after 9/11 leading to little accountability.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Border Patrol has been allowed to design its own accountability systems, often involving agents investigating their own use of force incidents.
• 📉 The agency has historically manipulated evidence and gotten rid of witnesses in use-of-force cases, as seen in past incidents and recent shootings.

Historical Precedents and Escalating Violence

• 📈 Past border operations like "Operation Gatekeeper" and "Operation Hold the Line" in the 1990s led to increased walls, surveillance, and agents, implementing a "prevention through deterrence" strategy that has resulted in deadly encounters.
• 💔 It is estimated that at least 10,000 people have died crossing the border due to these strategies, though former agent Jenn Budd suggests the number is closer to 80,000 since October 1994.
• ⏳ The current violence and shootings by CBP staff are not due to insufficient training but are part of long-standing practices, with 12 DHS shootings since September alone.

The "Mass Grave" at the Southern Border

• 💀 The current immigration policies are creating a "mass grave" at the southern border, with an obstacle course of death for those attempting to cross.
• 🚫 There is no legal or "right" way for people to present themselves to immigrate, as the system has been designed to be prohibitive.
• 💰 Despite the high mortality and documented abuses, the combined budgets of ICE and CBP have reached $33.5 billion this year, with further influxes expected, suggesting a continuation of current practices.