From January:
and now:
A federal judge ordered the U.S. Border Patrol to halt illegal stops and warrantless arrests in the Central Valley after agents detained and arrested dozens of farmworkers and laborers — including a U.S. citizen —
this year.
The days-long raid around Bakersfield sparked outrage after video circulated of
agents slashing the tires of a gardener who was a citizen on his way to work, and raised fears those tactics could become the
new norm in the largely agricultural area.
Judge Jennifer Thurston of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California said in an 88-page order that evidence presented by
ACLU lawyersestablished “a pattern and practice” at the Border Patrol of violating people’s constitutional rights when detaining people without reasonable suspicion, and then violating federal law by executing warrantless arrests without determining flight risk.
“Two days does not establish a pattern or practice,” [government lawyer] Kuchins said, suggesting that it was the actions of a few agents.
Thurston then asked the basis for that finding. Kuchins said she had none.