Around New England

ACLU Asks Greyhound To Say No To U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Searches

March 21, 2018

The Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is one of 10 asking Greyhound to stop allowing federal immigration authorities to conduct searches on its buses unless they have a warrant.

An ACLU lawyer told the Rutland Herald that the civil-liberties group hopes the bus company will assert Fourth Amendment rights against searches and seizures.

“With Greyhound’s agreement, [Customs and Border Patrol] agents have routinely staged surprise boardings to question riders about their citizenship and travel plans, in many cases demanding to see passengers’ ‘documents’,” the ACLU said in a written statement, according to the Rutland Herald. “CBP has said that agents do not need warrants if they are within 100 miles of international borders.”

Greyhound says the company “has opened a dialogue with the Border Patrol to see if there is anything that can be done to balance the enforcement of federal law with the dignity and privacy of our valued customers,” according to the Rutland Herald.