Woman gets $475,000 for illegal body cavity search

FILE - This Jan. 17, 2008 file photo, South bound vehicles leave El Paso, Texas and enter Juarez, Mexico at the Bridge of the Americas international port of entry. Immigrant advocates are complaining about U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers' actions toward residents along the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso and New Mexico. A coalition of advocacy groups said Tuesday, May 17, 2016, that they filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleging at least 13 residents have experienced abuse, including being falsely accused of being prostitutes to having legal document seized for no reason. (Rudy Gutierrez/El Paso Times via AP, File) OUT EL PASO, EL DIARIO OUT, JUAREZ, MEXICO, EL DIARIO DE EL PASO OUT less FILE - This Jan. 17, 2008 file photo, South bound vehicles leave El Paso, Texas and enter Juarez, Mexico at the Bridge of the Americas international port of entry. Immigrant advocates are complaining about U.S. ... more Photo: Rudy Gutierrez, MBO / Associated Press Photo: Rudy Gutierrez, MBO / Associated Press Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Woman gets $475,000 for illegal body cavity search 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has agreed to pay $475,000 to a woman who was subjected to a body cavity search at a Texas hospital, according to the American Civil Liberties Union chapters in Texas and New Mexico.

The woman, who was not named in the ACLU’s lawsuit against the federal government, was taken to University Medical Center of El Paso in December 2012 after a drug sniffing dog alerted that she may have contraband as she crossed the border, according to court records.

She was held for six hours at the hospital, strip searched, X-rayed and subjected to a body cavity search, according to the lawsuit. After agents found no evidence of drugs, she was billed for $5,000.

“Doctors and law enforcement officers are entrusted with the sacred responsibility of looking after our health and safety, and Ms. Doe’s unspeakable ordeal represents an unforgivable violation of that trust,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas. “These atrocities were committed with our money and in our name, and it’s not enough to hold those who committed them to account. We must also ensure that every law enforcement officer and every hospital staff member understands the consequences of so intimately and egregiously violating someone’s rights.”

CBP did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

University Medical Center of El Paso last year agreed to pay the woman $1.1 million, according to the lawsuit.

ACLU chapters along the border also sent letters Thursday to 110 hospitals and doctors’ offices warning them about conducting body cavity searches on behalf of federal agents.

As part of the settlement, CBP is agreeing to provide additional training to its officers, according to the ACLU.

jbuch@express-news.net

Twitter: @jlbuch