U.S. Customs and Border Protection
agency
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for regulating and facilitating international trade and travel while enforcing immigration and customs law at U.S. borders. It operates ports of entry and patrols the land and maritime borders between them. CBP played a central role in the administration's border security operations beginning in 2025.
Entries involving this actor (5)
2026
CBP deports more than 200 Filipino sailors on unproven child sexual abuse material accusations
An NPR investigation published June 6, 2026 documented that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has deported more than 200 Filipino professional mariners since 2025 after accusing them — without charges, prosecutions, or presented evidence — of possessing child sexual abuse material. Agents board cruise and commercial ships in port, search crew members' phones, revoke their crew visas, and remove them to Manila within roughly 24 hours, with 10-year entry bans in at least some cases. The Pilipino Workers Center has tracked at least 212 such cases, all visa revocations with no criminal charges.
DHS denies World Cup referee Omar Artan entry at Miami airport under Somalia travel ban
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials denied entry to Omar Abdulkadir Artan, a Somali national and one of FIFA's 52 selected referees for the 2026 World Cup, when he arrived at Miami International Airport on June 6, 2026, despite his holding a valid U.S. visa. DHS said on June 8 that Artan was "determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns" — Somalia is among the countries named in the administration's June 2025 travel-ban proclamation — and FIFA confirmed he will be unable to train or officiate at the tournament.
Border Patrol leaves near-blind Rohingya refugee in freezing Buffalo lot; death ruled homicide
On February 19, 2026, U.S. Border Patrol agents took Nurul Amin Shah Alam — a 56-year-old, nearly blind Rohingya refugee who spoke little English — from a county jail and released him alone outside a closed Tim Hortons in Buffalo, New York, in near-freezing cold. He was found dead five days later, and the Erie County medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a perforated duodenal ulcer precipitated by hypothermia and dehydration. DHS initially said agents had left him at a "safe location," but surveillance footage contradicted that account.
Intercept investigation revealed ICE database marked protest observers as domestic terrorists; DHS revoked travel credentials in retaliation
A January 23, 2026 video captured an ICE agent recording a protest observer and stating, "we have a nice little database, and now you're considered a domestic terrorist," the first documented evidence of a DHS/ICE/CBP database labeling lawful protest observers as terrorists and revoking their TSA PreCheck, Global Entry, and passport access. The Intercept filed a FOIA lawsuit against DHS on June 24, 2026 after the agency refused to produce documents about the program, with court exhibits from a Minnesota immigration case corroborating the database's use and at least one civilian losing travel credentials within three days of photographing an ICE operation.
2025
CBP directed airlines to drop X gender markers from pre-departure passenger data, barring non-binary designation for international travelers
On July 7, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a Carrier Liaison Program Bulletin directing all airlines operating international flights to or from the United States to submit only "M" or "F" in the sex field of Advanced Passenger Information System pre-departure data, effectively erasing X gender markers for nonbinary and transgender travelers. Airlines submitting an X in place of a binary marker were required to resubmit, while carriers that substituted M or F for a traveler's actual X passport marker would face no penalty. CBP began enforcing the binary-only requirement on October 14, 2025, after a 90-day informed compliance period.