Concord Coach Lines will examine its longstanding policy of allowing warrantless searches of its buses by Border Patrol agents following a decision by Greyhound to forbid the practice, although the policy will remain in place for at least the time being.
“The circumstances regarding law enforcement and bus passenger travel as compared with other means of travel have not changed,” Benjamin Blunt, vice president of Concord Coach, said in a statement to the Monitor on Saturday. “Because many of our passengers are coming from or connecting to Greyhound buses, however, we’re concerned that conflicting policies are potentially problematic for customers. We’re going to be consulting with our national association and with legal counsel.”
Blunt has said repeatedly that Concord Coach does not want its drivers be put in the position of deciding whether law enforcement requests are legal or not, and so it allows immigration searches by the Border Patrol.
Until Friday this was also the position of Greyhound, the nation’s largest intercity bus line, which claimed it had no ability to block searches under federal law. But following an Associated Press report of a Border Patrol memo confirming that agents can’t board private buses without the consent of the bus company, Greyhound changed its policy.
Greyhound said Friday it would notify the Department of Homeland Security that it does not consent to unwarranted searches on its buses or in areas a person needs a ticket to access. Greyhound said it would provide its drivers and bus station employees updated training regarding the new policy, and that it would place stickers on all its buses stating that it does not consent to the searches.
Concord Coach, which serves many communities in New Hampshire and Maine, has large placards in its terminals detailing passengers’ rights, including the right to not answer questions, to deny officials from searching their possessions, and the right to video any interaction.
A Customs and Border Protection memo dated Jan. 28, addressed to all chief patrol agents and signed by then-Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost just before she retired, was publicized last week by the AP.
“When transportation checks occur on a bus at non-checkpoint locations, the agent must demonstrate that he or she gained access to the bus with the consent of the company’s owner or one of the company’s employees,” the memo states.
The memo also reiterates that people are not required to respond to the Border Agent’s questions, saying that an agent’s actions while on the bus “would not cause a reasonable person to believe that he or she is unable to terminate the encounter with the agent.”
The question of immigration-related searches of intercity buses has long been controversial. The American Civil Liberties Union has been pushing bus companies to deny the searches, expressing concern about passengers being pulled off buses and arrested often after being singled out and questioned based on having dark skin or foreign accents.
The Border Patrol denies that, saying all passengers are questioned.
Under President Obama, Customs and Border Protection in late 2011 began cutting back on so-called “transportation checks,” especially along the U.S.-Canada border, amid criticism that it amounted to racial profiling. The agency told agents to keep away from bus and train stations entirely unless they had “actionable intelligence” about someone who had recently entered the country illegally.
The Trump administration returned authority to the chief agents in each Border Patrol sector to approve the operations and such actions have been on the rise, according to the AP.
Concord Coach Lines, headquartered in Concord, provides bus routes throughout New Hampshire and Maine via Concord Coach, Dartmouth Coach and Boston Express services, including connections to Boston and New York City.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313, dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)