An immigrant advocacy group says its analysis of 809 complaints filed against the U.S. Border Patrol over a three-year period shows that disciplinary action has only been taken in 13 cases.
The American Immigration Council says the complaints it received through litigation involving the Freedom of Information Act were limited to incidents within 100 miles of the Southwest border with Mexico. Of the 809 cases, 324 were still under investigation when the data were released. On average, it took the agency 122 days to arrive at a decision on a complaint.
The group found that 78 percent of the complaints against Border Patrol agents concerned physical abuse or excessive use of force. The complaints reviewed were filed from January 2009 to January 2012.
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