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Decades of Anti-Immigration Policy Created "Mass Grave" at Southern Border

2026-01-28 News & Politics
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Democracy Now!
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Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt As President Trump shakes up the leadership of his immigration crackdown in Minnesota following the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents, we examine the expanding role of the agency in interior enforcement. Independent journalist Todd Miller says the Trump administration's immigration operations in U.S. cities are an "extension" of "policies and practices that we've been seeing in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands now for decades," characterizing Border Patrol culture as one of rampant abuse and impunity. We also speak with Jenn Budd, a former Border Patrol agent who quit in 2001 and is now an immigrant rights activist. She disputes the claim that recent violence by CBP staff is a result of insufficient training. "The management of the Border Patrol has been corrupt for many generations, and then after 9/11 we just gave them money with little accountability and let them design their own accountability systems," says Budd. Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

Top Comments (10)

@paulrob555 2026-01-29

I live here in El Paso and there’s an organization called Battalion Search & Rescue. They post videos of the clothes and remains they find. They’re mostly of young women and little girls. Very terrifying what happens out here with impunity. Local police and people that get away with murder, literally

77 11 replies
@norwegianhardscrabble 2026-01-30

Changing Homan for Bovino is like pooping your pants and changing your shirt.

53 2 replies
@simonedail9437 2026-01-30

I used to live in the US for a long time and did not know what was going on at the border. My experience with the INS was that they seem to be on some sort of power trip, they were arrogant, very unfriendly, and made me feel like I was very much unwanted. Within a few months, i noticed that things weren't quite what they seemed, I realized that there was a force that was leaning way too far to the right. And the longer I lived in the states, the more I realized that public education was nothing but a joke, and I also realized that the people are indoctrinated and that it was the reason that the people couldn't see what was going on in their own country. I worked with technicians who had to fly all over the world to install our machines and all of them said the same, that the American border and customs officers are the most unfriendly in the world, and they knew what they were talking about, after all, they traveled on business to all industrialized nations. Had I known that America tortures and kills people, even children, I would have never moved there. My goodness, I really thought that America was this great, multi-culture, free and welcoming country. I was so wrong. I love the beauty of untouched nature and the diverse wildlife, and I really like the people who seem to be so friendly and caring, surely they weren't aware that Border patrol agents raped young women and girls who they killed afterwards, that men were possibly tortured and killed. Approximately 80k were murdered by border patrol since 1994, there could be many more. This is unbelievable, truly heinous. And now, under trump pure hell has been unleashed on the people who work hard and live their lives in peace! I feel for the immigrants who are hard working , honest people who contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of the country and are now viciously and brutally hunted down by the ice SS and gestapo like prey. The cruelty is obviously the intent, I am shocked and utterly apalled and I don't think that I will ever set foot on American soil again, I am now too old. Also, I have paid into the American system such as social security and medicare for more than 30 years and don't mind so much that I won't be able to use medicare, but I do mind that I am not able to apply for my social security! Who knows if and when the current regime is toppled and replaced with people who care and fight for the people! Because I know for a fact that Americans are some of the hardest working people in the world (I was one of them) with the least amount of time off, compared to other western industrialized nations! I hope and prey that the people of America will soon be freed of the current regime to avoid even more damage!

30 3 replies
@NOHUNGERUSA 2026-01-29

I was just wondering how ice and border patrol agents with years of experience could be so reckless to kill innocent citizens. That is actually the training for immigration enforcement! I’m sick. 80,000 lives lost in this way? And almost all of us have been ignorant of this rampant cruelty done by our government.

21 1 replies
@prajnachan333 2026-01-31

OMG. How horrific. Our entire lives they have been murdering people at the southern border completely unknown to us. "80,000 people." It must include children. Not a word from any president. How disgusting and unconscionable.

16
@cindyperron3024 2026-01-29

WHY ISN'T JENN BUDD FEATURED MORE?? SHE NEEDS TO BE INTERVIEWED ON EVERY INDEPENDENT MEDIA CHANNEL THAT EXISTS!

16
@ADebsLife 2026-02-01

It's interesting to me that these narcissist can't comprehend that an individual would fight fascism without being paid. Narcissists can't comprehend this because they have no core, no empathy or compassion.

15
@marsflee3815 2026-01-30

To actually have the nerve to kill a person, you actually have no respect for life-- you lost the value of life. Years from now, my hope is that we will look back at this time and see how uncivilized folks in this system really were.

9 1 replies
@ambriaashley3383 2026-01-31

Oh god… our nation must atone for this

8 1 replies
@douglashoward-t8o 2026-02-04

All government engaged in covering up the murdered they commit.

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