Rep. Deutch Leads Colleagues in Joint Statement on CBP Raid of Greyhound Bus

Statement

Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-22), Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20), Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23), and Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), representing the Congressional Broward Delegation, along with Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01), Congressional Caribbean Caucus Co-Chairs Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett (USVI), House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler(D-NY), Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Congressman Luis V. Gutiérrez (IL-04), Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Congresswoman Karen Bass (CA-37), Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL-14), Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09), Congressman Al Lawson (FL-05), Congressman Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Congressman Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35), and Congressman J. Luis Correa (CA-46) issued the following joint statement after video surfaced of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents boarding and raiding a Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale:

"We were appalled to see U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents abusing their mandate and authority to arbitrarily board a bus to demand that all passengers produce identification and documentation.

"We support strengthening our border protections against external threats and bolstering our officials in their work to keep Americans safe. However, arbitrary and disruptive enforcement actions like this do not make our communities safer. Rather, they waste taxpayer resources, cruelly dehumanize people who have not committed any crimes, and erode our fundamental rights. Identification is not required to ride a bus from one Florida city to another.

"While the law gives U.S. CBP officials the authority to conduct transportation checks within a reasonable distance from the border, this event and others like it across the country show that Congress must conduct a comprehensive review of what "reasonable distance' means. The 100-mile border zone established by U.S. regulations arbitrarily extends CBP jurisdiction and undercuts the rights for citizens and legal residents to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. In Florida, this arbitrary zone puts everyone in the state under constant threat of stops, interrogations, and searches without even the most basic due process protections.

"We regret that visitors to Fort Lauderdale were subjected to this raid, and will work together to push for reasonable limits on border agent authority that protect our civil liberties."