Wyden Reiterates Opposition to Customs Nominee Following New Report On Death of Migrant in CBP Custody
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today renewed his opposition to Rodney Scott to serve as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), following a new decision by an independent tribunal finding that the agency violated the human rights of a migrant who died after being beaten in CBP custody.
A decision released yesterday by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the U.S. government violated established human rights principles following the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández Rojas in CBP custody, when Scott was Acting Deputy Chief Patrol Agent in the San Diego Sector for U.S. Border Patrol.
“If the Finance Committee confirms a man implicated in events that an independent tribunal says were a violation of human rights it would represent a new low,” Wyden said. “Senators cannot accept a nominee with such a stain on his record.”
Hernández Rojas was beaten and repeatedly tased by CBP agents, according to court documents, and later died of those injuries. His death was ruled a homicide by two separate autopsies. Scott oversaw an internal investigation of the death and signed a potentially unlawful administrative subpoena to obtain Hernández Rojas’s medical records.
Separately, James Wong, the deputy assistant commissioner of CBP Internal Affairs at the time of the incident, wrote to Wyden that the subpoena was issued, “likely in an effort to spin information for their own PR. The use of a CBP administrative subpoena for this purpose was blatantly unlawful and anyone signing it should have known that.“
The commission highlighted failures of the investigation following Hernandez Rojas’ death and found that they violated the right of access to justice. Rather than immediately referring the incident to the San Diego Police Department, FBI, or Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, the San Diego CBP office Critical Incident Investigative Team began its own investigation, ultimately taping over government camera footage of the scene and tampering with physical evidence, according to court documents. Scott personally signed a subpoena to obtain Hernandez Roja’s medical records, which CBP then refused to release to the San Diego Police Department.
The commission wrote that “...there is no basis in the national legal framework to support the CIIT's priority access to the crime scene, and other evidence –such as Mr. Hernández's medical records,” and that “it is highlighted with concern that the CIIT refrained from forwarding the collected information to the San Diego Police Department, which could represent an obstacle to the investigation whose jurisdiction is not in dispute.”
The Finance Committee held a hearing on Mr. Scott’s nomination on April 30.
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