Woman given body cavity searches at border settles case for $475K

[TexasTowelie]

ALBUQUERQUE — U.S. Customs and Border Protection agreed to pay $475,000 to a New Mexico woman who accused agents of forcing her to undergo body cavity probes and then got charged for the exams, civil liberties advocates said Thursday.

The settlement in the case, which drew national attention three years ago, also will require new training for hundreds of customs officers, American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Texas and New Mexico said.

The woman, a 54-year-old U.S. citizen, was “brutally” searched by agents in December 2012 after a drug-sniffing dog jumped on her at an El Paso checkpoint, according to a 2013 lawsuit. The woman, who was not named, was returning from a visit with a recently deported family friend in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico.

Agents strip-searched her and did cavity searches but found no evidence of drugs, court documents said.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/woman-given-body-cavity-searches-at-border-settles-case-for/article_d3c69c35-0477-50cc-8b1c-bc78805aa5e2.html