We always hear how much racism occurs at the border towards individual’s , however, we have never heard about the racism that officers face while working at the immigration centers. In a recent article publish by Immigration Impact, “A Black former U.S. diplomat recently shared her experience of months of racial profiling by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials while she was stationed at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. She was tasked with enforcing U.S. immigration law, but nevertheless found herself racially profiled and discriminated against by U.S. immigration authorities”. She became overwhelmed with so much anxiety that she experienced posttraumatic stress disorder. She describes how many times, while attempting to cross the border the officers would question her to an extreme and even accuse her of stealing the car she was traveling in.
It is amazing to think that this occurs to people who are citizens and who attempt to cross the border. We can only imagine how the process goes for those who are not citizens of the United States. It is obvious that immigration picks and chooses whom to do secondary interviewing.
The story that this diplomat described serves as an example of institutional racism. It is clear that CBP needs to force cultural change. They cannot continue to target individuals for the way look or may sound.
Leave a comment!