'Shocked And Humiliated': Lawsuits Accuse Customs, Border Officers Of Invasive Searches

At a time when the Trump administration is looking at implementing “tough immigration policies”, traveling to the Unites States can prove to be harrowing, especially if you’re an immigrant and undocumented. In a series of lawsuits filed in New York, California, Arizona, Texas, Michigan and Pennsylvania, innocent women and minor girls allege that CBP officers subjected them to harsh interrogation, that led to “indignities that included unreasonable strip searches while menstruating, to prohibited genital probing.” The Center for Public Integrity reviewed the lawsuits where some women also claim to have been transported to hospitals to undergo pelvic exams, X-rays and in one case, drugging via IV – all against their will, and because the CBP suspected them of carrying contraband.

It cost the taxpayer more than $1.2 million to settle six of the lawsuits. In her piece for the Center of Public Integrity, Susan Ferriss examines the various lawsuits and takes a look at how far the CBP would go to wield their power in the name of securing the nation’s borders.