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Report: ACLU asking feds to investigate Gov. Abbott's policy transporting migrants back to border

State troopers are currently authorized to transport migrants to border ports of entry. It's unclear how and why migrants are being detained.

TEXAS, USA — The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking the federal government to investigate Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order authorizing state troopers to transport migrants back to border ports of entry, according to a report by The Texas Tribune.

The Tribune reports that the request by ACLU Texas and the organization's national leadership comes a week after a report on how Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers are transferring suspected migrants to ports of entry in Eagle Pass and turning them over to federal immigration authorities. 

The Tribune reports that Abbott authorized this practice in a July 7 executive order but "provided little clarity on how the migrants would be transported and under what authority they would be detained."

According to the report, though local law enforcement authorities have previously turned over immigrants in their custody at the request of federal immigration authorities, they have traditionally held them at the locations where the immigrants already were, such as jails or detention centers. The governor's order authorizes state troopers to drive migrants to border ports of entry, where they can be more easily processed by immigration authorities.

The Tribune reports that the ACLU is asking the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to: "monitor the Eagle Pass port of entry to ensure federal agents are acting appropriately; collect and publicize data on the purported state authority for the transfer of people from Texas DPS to federal immigration agents; identify gaps in U.S. Customs and Border Protection policies related to this practice and issue relevant recommendations; and take all appropriate steps to identify and address civil rights violations that could be occurring as a result of Abbott’s order."

The ACLU is also calling on the federal government to stop taking migrants transported by state authorities into their custody.

To learn more about the ACLU's request, read the Tribune's full report.

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