How US Customs and Border Protection Became the World’s Largest Militarised Police Force

Abstract

Jorge, Jose Antonio and Maria don’t know one another. They come from distinct backgrounds, but their stories intersect at the US–Mexico border and with the largest police force in the United States, and perhaps the world—US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Their stories are representative of the human cost exacted by enforcement-only responses to human migration on the US-Mexico border that doubled the size of CBP in less than a decade without commensurate investment in oversight. The US government’s reluctance to hold border agents accountable to professional, 21st century police best practices that protect the paramount value of human life and promote bias-free, transparent policing has undermined both human rights and the agency’s mission by enabling widespread abuse and corruption.