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  • 2018-01-22 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Customs Agents Board a Bus in Florida Asking for Proof of Citizenship? (en)
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  • In January 2018, a Florida activist's video showing immigration officials asking Greyhound passengers for their papers caused some confusion about whether this shows an actual encounter. It does. The footage, posted by Tomas Kennedy, legitimately shows Customs and Border Protection officers boarding a Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale on 19 January 2018 and arresting one passenger. Greyhound had reportedly told passengers that they would be subject to a routine security check, not an immigration-related action: The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida told us in a statement that it is extremely concerned by the footage and is investigating the encounter: However, this is not a new practice. While Greyhound requires identification — but not citizenship — for people riding within the boundaries of the United States, the company has typically cooperated with immigration officials; in 2008 a Greyhound spokesperson told the New York Times: As the ACLU has noted, Customs and Border Protection agents have the authority to operate within 100 miles of any U.S. external boundary, including states with coastal borders like Florida. However, according to the ACLU: University of Southern California law professor Niels Frenzen tells us that although it may be illegal to lie to federal law enforcement officers, it is not illegal for citizens to refuse to talk to them. Frenzen, who is the director of the immigration clinic at the USC Gould School of Law, told us: Denis L. Gilman, who helms a similar clinic at the University of Texas at Austin school of law, has said that the same principle holds true for motorists. She told the Texas Observer in 2013: Frenzen did add that permanent residents (a.k.a. green card holders) are required to not only carry their documentation but produce them if asked by immigration officers. FLIC membership director Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez told Miami New Times that encounters like the one filmed in Fort Lauderdale weaken the public's trust in law enforcement: We have reached out to CBP, FLIC, and Greyhound for further comment. (en)
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