U.S. citizen assaulted by CBP says officers ‘do anything they want without any consequences’

The ACLU of New Mexico said in a complaint filed last August that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer Oscar Orrantia first became irate after Granillo, who was driving his vehicle back into the U.S. through the Columbus Port of Entry, suggested opening an additional lane for traffic due to the sweltering heat. 

“Officer Orrantia responded in an angry and aggressive tone, remarking to Mr. Granillo that CBP officers can do whatever they want,” the complaint said. “Mr. Granillo viewed Officer Orrantia’s name on his badge and stated it, which angered Officer Orrantia and led him to accuse Mr. Granillo of wanting to report him.” When then asked what he was bringing into the U.S., Granillo stated he had medicine. He tried to show it, but “unnerved by Officer Orrantia’s aggressive demeanor, Mr. Granillo accidentally dropped it.” Orrantia then accused Granillo of throwing it at him. 

Orrantia’s aggressive behavior culminated with him forcing the 64-year-old man out of his car and slamming him into a wall, then onto the ground, where he was restrained with an arm twisted behind his back. “Several more CBP officers arrived to the scene and participated in physically restraining Mr. Granillo.” The complaint states that at one point, Orrantia kicked Granillo in the legs.

The complaint said that not until about 20 minutes after he was moved to an office did CBP call an ambulance. That’s when he found out Orrantia already had a violent history. “One of the EMTs informed Mr. Granillo that they have had problems in the past with Officer Orrantia being violent toward other people crossing the border.”

Despite visible bruising, Granillo declined to be taken to hospital, after CBP told him they wouldn’t cover his medical costs after injuring him. “Granillo’s experience is just one of thousands of stories of unnecessary abuses by CBP, the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country,” an ACLU of New Mexico blog post dated Dec. 30 said. CBP’s belligerence has in fact led to a number of vehicle-related civilian deaths in the region since last summer.

“Since 2010, the ACLU has tracked 56 deaths resulting from Border Patrol-involved chases,” the blog post continued. Since the civil rights complaint’s filing in August, advocates have also shed important light on the “shadow police unit” that for years has worked to cover up abuses by border agents. When you think of the horrors we have seen, from the state kidnapping of asylum-seeking children to the abuse of Haitian asylum-seekers at Del Rio, just think of what kind of horrors we haven’t seen. 

Granillo’s complaint shows why an unaccountable CBP represents a danger to many, regardless of immigration status. “I get my medicines in Mexico, so I cross this port of entry regularly,” he continued to the ACLU of New Mexico. “There’s a fear it’s going to happen again. It’s so unpredictable how you’re going to be treated and you never know if you’re going to get someone who will mistreat you. I’m afraid what happened before will happen again.”