Residents of Southern Arizona and the rest of America's borderlands could pay the price.
People are also reading… "Permitting suit against a Border Patrol agent presents national security concerns that foreclose Bivens relief," the majority wrote, citing the 1971 case, Bivens, that establishes limited conditions to sue federal agents who violate people's rights. And prosecutors are reticent to bring criminal cases against agents for shootings or abuse because they so rarely win convictions.
Now, I should point out that the Border Patrol is welcomed by many people in the places where it operates. That's in part because agents are around to help out with emergencies unrelated to their federal duties in areas like rural Pima County where sheriff's deputies may be an hour away.
Boule filed a complaint against Egbert with the Border Patrol, but the complaint was determined to be unfounded. Then Egbert tipped off state and federal tax authorities, who audited Boule. Accountability neededCongress has the ability to correct this injustice. The problem is that our representatives are also deeply in the thrall of the border hype machine. The Tucson-based union for Border Patrol agents, the National Border Patrol Council, was so powerful during the Trump administration that the union president had direct access to the president himself.
That’s really autocratic of them. It’s almost pre-Magna Carta in its outlook on the relationship between government and citizen.