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Greyhound will no longer allow warrantless immigration sweeps on its buses in Washington state
Link to tweet
Greyhound Lines, the nation's largest intercity bus company, will stop letting immigration agents conduct warrantless sweeps of its buses and stations and pay $2.2 million in legal fees and restitution under a lawsuit settlement with the state of Washington.
The bus operator had already announced it would stop allowing the sweeps nationwide in February 2020 amid mounting public pressure. The new settlement requires the company to take specific steps and document its efforts to do so in Washington, as well as cover the state's legal fees and pay restitution to passengers who were detained, arrested, or deported after immigration agents boarded their bus.
Reports of immigration sweeps on buses by Border Patrol agents around the country increased under the Trump administration, after Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, reversed an Obama-era decision to restrict approval for those operations.
The bulk of the sweeps occurred near the northern border, advocates and a spokesperson for Greyhound told NBC News in 2019. In Washington state, those searches were concentrated at the bus station in Spokane, the largest city on the eastern side of the state.
The bus operator had already announced it would stop allowing the sweeps nationwide in February 2020 amid mounting public pressure. The new settlement requires the company to take specific steps and document its efforts to do so in Washington, as well as cover the state's legal fees and pay restitution to passengers who were detained, arrested, or deported after immigration agents boarded their bus.
Reports of immigration sweeps on buses by Border Patrol agents around the country increased under the Trump administration, after Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees the Border Patrol, reversed an Obama-era decision to restrict approval for those operations.
The bulk of the sweeps occurred near the northern border, advocates and a spokesperson for Greyhound told NBC News in 2019. In Washington state, those searches were concentrated at the bus station in Spokane, the largest city on the eastern side of the state.