On Friday, 200,000 signed petitions from the local Greyhound bus driver’s union, the American Civil Liberties Union, and other group representatives were delivered to the headquarters of the Greyhound bus company, in downtown Dallas. They demanded that the company end the practice of allowing agents with Customs and Border Protection onto Greyhound buses to question passengers about their immigration status.
Immigrant advocates gathered in Main Street Garden Park and said that Greyhound had the legal right to refuse border patrol agents onto their buses when they have neither legal warrants or even probable cause. The Transportation Not Deportation campaign has accused agents with Customs and Border Protection of racial profiling and of violating the constitutional rights of passengers by demanding they produce evidence of US citizenship.
The practice is taking place beyond border checkpoints and in areas heavily populated by Hispanics, according to Representative, Joaquin Castro, who says that Greyhound is not required to allow such activities to take place on their buses and are subjecting paying passengers to racial profiling and warrantless searches. The group carried boxes filled with 200,000 signed petitions to the company headquarters.
Greyhound responded that, while they understood the concerns of customers, the searches were legal, CEO Dave Leach said in a statement read by Tricia Martinez, the senior vice president of the company’s legal department. But, Martinez also denied any coordination with Customs and Border Protection and said that Greyhound did not support the searches.