Worst of the Worst: 152 Sexually and Physically Abusive ICE and Border Agents
Implications for U.S. Communities and Actions Needed from Congress
Report Resources
Video recording — coming soon and transcript.
Spreadsheet of all 152 cases.
Download the report, slide presentation, and press release.
Read Lynn’s Substack, “We Found 152 Abusive ICE and Border Agents, Identified the Patterns, and Wrote a To-Do List for Congress.”
Quotes from Speakers
Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director, Ohio Immigrant Alliance and report author: “We do need better vetting and actual accountability at these agencies. But if that’s all you take away from this report, you are missing a fundamental point.
“Civil immigration enforcement should be a desk job, like the IRS. That’s how we enforce all other civil laws: calmly, in office buildings, with opportunities for compliance rather than with guns, jails, and deportation. Those aren’t the kinds of jobs that attract trigger-happy, abusive predators. Ever since Congress created DHS, ICE has been on a tactical creep, and we’re getting to the place where their out-of-control actions are almost normalized. But nothing about how they operate today is normal or OK. There’s no civil law worth killing over.”
Lauren Bonds, Executive Director, National Police Accountability Project: “No law enforcement officer is justified in shooting into a vehicle, ever. No one deserves to be shot by a federal agent on their way to work, and enforcing a civil law is never more important than a person’s life. The only way to end ICE killings is to take their guns and ban them from enforcing civil laws on our streets. Civil laws should be enforced in courtrooms and office buildings, not on U.S. streets with deadly force.”
Lisalyn R. Jacobs, CEO, Just Solutions: “David Brouillette had a history of domestic violence; in Ohio, Samuel Saxon had a lengthy history of violence against his intimate partner. But at this point, he has only been prosecuted for lying to a federal officer, not for his lengthy history of violence. Jonathan Ross, who shot and killed Renee Good in January of this year called her a “f’ing b—-” after he did so. Last week, an ICE agent in the Washington, DC suburb of Fairfax County pointed a weapon at a civilian who had mocked him. The episodes of federal officers with troubling histories harming and sometimes killing civilians, or their own family members, is not unique to this administration, but it has gotten worse during it. ‘Metastatic masculinity’ helps to explain why.”
Peter L. Markowitz, Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and Co-Director, Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic: "The pattern of predatory abuse documented in this critical report exposes yet another facet of the entrenched culture of cruelty that is not only tolerated by federal immigration authorities but is, in fact, encouraged and a core attribute of contemporary immigration enforcement. There is a more effective and more humane way to enforce our civil immigration laws by broadening and prioritizing access to legal pathways for undocumented immigrants. Helping people come into compliance is how many federal agencies, like the IRS, SEC, OSHA, and others enforce the law. ICE could do the same without the heavy-handed gestapo tactics and without mass detention."
Lilian Serrano, Director, Southern Border Communities Coalition: “For generations, southern border communities have warned about a system where federal agents wield extraordinary power with little accountability. This report shows why these abuses cannot be dismissed as the actions of a few because in nearly half of the documented cases, agents’ offenses were directly connected to their official duties. Whether we are talking about sexual violence, excessive force, abuse of power, or killings, the underlying question remains the same: who holds ICE and Border Patrol agents accountable when they cause harm or kill? Agencies should not be left to investigate themselves. Communities deserve independent investigations and a system that protects our rights and dignity, rather than shielding abuse from accountability.”
Additional Reading
Lisalyn R. Jacob’s law review article, “MOCKERY MASQUERADING AS STRENGTH: AMERICA IN THE THROES OF METASTATIC MASCULINITY.”
Peter L. Markowitz’s paper, “A New Paradigm for Humane and Effective Immigration Enforcement,” published by the Center for American Progress.
