Greyhound Lines has agreed to pay $2.2 million and make several other changes to settle a lawsuit brought by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson regarding the company allowing immigration sweeps on its buses.
Ferguson filed the suit in April of 2020, alleging the company allowed U.S. Customs & Border Patrol agents to perform “warrantless and suspicious” immigration sweeps on its buses at the Spokane Intermodal Center. Ferguson said the practice had been going on since 2013.
“My office first insisted that Greyhound make these corporate changes in 2019,” Ferguson said in a press release. “If Greyhound had simply accepted our reasonable demand, they would have avoided a lawsuit. Now, on the eve of trial, Greyhound’s evasion has come to an end, and now it must pay $2 million for the harm it caused Washingtonians. Greyhound has an obligation to it’s customers – an obligation it cannot set aside so immigration agents can go on a fishing expedition aboard its buses.”
Ferguson said Greyhound failed to warn passengers of the sweeps, misrepresented its role in allowing them to occur and subjected riders to discrimination “based on race, skin color and national origin.”
Greyhound must also make several corporate policy changes, including creating a clear policy denying CBP agents permission to board buses in Washington without warrants or reasonable suspicion and a training program for drivers and other employees to communicate that policy to CBP agents.
“By agreeing to the consent decree, we will more extensively communicate to our customers the policies and procedures we already have in place to served the citizens of Washington state,” Greyhound said in a statement.
Ferguson said the money would be used to provide restitution to passengers who were detained, arrested or deported after the sweeps. The amount of money each person receives will depend on the number of claims and the severity of harm suffered.
A portion of the money will also reimburse Ferguson’s office for costs associated with the litigation.
In addition, Greyhound must also take several other steps, including issuing a public statement, in English and Spanish, that it does not support immigration agents boarding its buses without a warrant. It must also place stickers on or near the front door of its buses stating the same and provide adequate notice to customers about the risks of warrantless searches at all places where it sells tickets in the state.
Greyhound also has to implement a complain procedure for passengers who want to complain about the presence of immigration agents on its buses or in bus terminals and notify Ferguson’s office any time a complaint is received.
