Justice on the Line is a first look at how the Border Patrol has affected the day-to-day experiences and opinions of the mostly Hispanic residents of four Arizona/Mexico border communities: Nogales, Douglas, Pirtleville, and Naco. What we found were communities enduring profound unintended side effects of intense federal border enforcement practices and policies in their backyards. We discovered that problems within the agency were not isolated incidents or the result of one or two "bad apples" within the agency. Rather, there are deeply rooted issues at the institutional level within the Border Patrol that affect the agency's overall relationship and interaction with the majority Hispanic border communities.

From conversations with more than three hundred families, we found that many of the fundamental values that typically hold communities together, like trust, safety, and accountability, have been devastatingly eroded. This report reveals that border communities feel less safe, that Border Patrol has broken the communities' trust, that residents are made to feel suspect simply because of their appearance, and that the agency has no system of "checks and balances."

Justice on the Line is intended to give voice to these experiences so that they are heard by decision-makers and policy makers. Furthermore, thia report is intended to break the isolation of the many residents we spoke with who expressed tremendous fear of retribution for speaking out and skepticism that the Border Patrol or the federal government would do anything to end the harassment and intimidation they endure.