A secret Border Patrol anti-terrorism team routinely detained and questioned immigration lawyers and journalists at the U.S.-Mexico border, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal.
“Following revelations two years ago by NBC 7 San Diego that some journalists and others were targeted for questioning when crossing from Tijuana, Mexico, the Trump administration maintained that the incidents were limited to San Diego and a handful of U.S. citizens. But the new documents prove the operation went further — and raise questions about how many others were targeted,” ProPublica said.
The CPB’s pretexts for the stops were often based on wrong information. An ACLU lawyer representing some of those detained called the ham-handed operation “COINTELPRO for dummies.”
The detained lawyers were asked clearly inappropriate questions, such as where the funding for their law firm came from, their religious beliefs — and whether they approved of Trump. The border agents also searched the lawyers’ phones, accessing privileged attorney-client communications.
The best you can say about this is, “stupid cops.” But the reality is probably deeper than that, and ultimately goes back to a lawless president who didn’t give a whit for the constitutional rights of anyone but his friends and supporters — and himself, when it comes time for him to face the music in a court.
Read story here.
Photo: Let’s see them climb over this wall! (Hint: It’s not hard. This is the U.S. side, so border jumpers don’t have to climb this, only descend it after climbing the other side. To do that, just drop a blanket over the barbed wire, and rappel off.)
