1. United States
2. Ind.
3. Letter

I am writing to demand immediate accountability for immigration agents who are violating Department of Homeland Security policy by using chokeholds and other life-threatening restraints that were banned after George Floyd's murder in 2020. ProPublica has documented over 40 cases in the past year where ICE and Border Patrol agents used these prohibited tactics, yet there is no sign of punishment for any officer involved. DHS policy is explicit: chokeholds and carotid restraints "must not be used as a means to control non-compliant subjects or persons resisting arrest" and are prohibited "unless deadly force is authorized," which requires an "imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury." Despite this clear standard, agents have repeatedly violated it with impunity. In Houston, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen named Arnoldo Bazan was put in a chokehold during his father's arrest. He told agents he couldn't breathe and later required morphine, CT scans, and X-rays at Texas Children's Hospital. In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, agents used a carotid restraint on Carlos Sebastian Zapata Rivera while he held his 1-year-old daughter, causing him to pass out and suffer what appeared to be a seizure. The carotid arteries carry 70 percent of the brain's blood flow, and blocking them can cause strokes, brain damage, and death. In Portland, Oregon, a DoorDash driver screamed "I can't breathe" and "I'm dying" in Spanish as four officers pinned him face down. Former immigration officials are appalled. Eric Balliet, who spent over two decades at Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol, said he arrested dozens of dangerous criminals but doesn't remember putting anybody in a chokehold. Gil Kerlikowske, former CBP commissioner under President Obama, said any officer under his command would face discipline for such conduct. I urge you to demand that DHS enforce its own policies through termination and criminal prosecution of agents who use banned tactics. Citizenship status cannot determine whether someone receives constitutional protections or whether their attacker faces consequences. Congress must also establish public tracking of these incidents and strengthen oversight mechanisms that have been gutted. The federal government's refusal to even count how many times agents choke civilians is unacceptable.