DETROIT – In an open letter released Wednesday, the ACLU urged Greyhound to stop allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection raids on buses and bus stops.
According to the letter, federal agents routinely and illegally board, detain, interrogate and arrest passengers. The warrantless raids have increased in the past year, the letter states, in which agents demand to see a passenger's "documents."
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"Greyhound should be in the business of transporting passengers, but instead is allowing intimidating interrogations and searches," said attorney Monica C. Andrade, an ACLU of Michigan Skadden Legal Fellow. "These searches violate the rights of passengers, who simply want to arrive to their destinations safely. They should not be subject to warrantless arrests and the threat of deportation."
A bus leaving Michigan for New York was stopped by CBP agents, in an incident reported to the ACLU. Authorities allegedly questioned every passenger about their citizenship and those who could not provide proof of lawful status were taken into custody
CBP agents and Greyhound have said agents do not need warrants if they are within 100 miles of an international border, and CBP believes all of Michigan falls within these guidelines, according to the letter.
You can read the letter from the ACLU here.