Greyhound Ends Immigration Sweeps Following Washington Lawsuit

OLYMPIA, WA - Greyhound Lines Inc. has agreed to end a partnership with U.S. Customs & Border Protection, which allowed ICE agents to perform "warrantless and suspicionless" immigration sweeps on its buses, in order to resolve a suit from Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

Under their agreement, Greyhound will also pay Washington $2.2 million, money which Ferguson's office says will be used for restitution to passengers who were detained, arrested, or deported after immigration agents boarded their bus at the Spokane Intermodal Center.

“My office first insisted that Greyhound make these corporate reforms in 2019,” Ferguson said. “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 its customers — an obligation it cannot set aside so immigration agents can go on fishing expeditions aboard its buses.”

Under a consent decree, filed Sunday in Spokane County Superior Court, Greyhound must:

• Create a "clear corporate policy" which denies CBP agents permission to board its buses without warrants or "reasonable suspicion" in Washington state.
• Instruct drivers and other employees to communicate that policy to CBP agents.
• Issue a public statement, in English and Spanish, declaring that Greyhound does not consent to immigration agents boarding its buses without a warrant or reasonable suspicion. The website must be posted on Greyhound's website, and must be sent to federal immigration law enforcement agencies and the City of Spokane.

The company must also put stickers on the front door of its buses which say they do not consent to warrantless searches by immigration agents, and provide placards to bus drivers that say the same.

Ferguson filed the suit against Greyhound back in April 2020, alleging the bus line had been allowing the sweeps since at least 2013. The company first publicly admitted to the warrantless sweeps in 2018. That same year, Greyhound also admitted that the sweeps harmed their passengers.

"Immigration sweeps aboard Greyhound buses delay travel for all passengers," wrote the Attorney General's Office (AGO). "During the sweeps, Latinx and other passengers of color are subjected to invasive questioning by armed federal agents and are often required to get off the bus. CBP agents sometimes detain or arrest passengers, or rifle through their luggage, while others watch."

The AGO says that, as a result, not only did passengers have their travel delayed, many were subject to discrimination based on their race and ethnicity.

Ferguson's office first asked Greyhound to end its sweeps policy in 2019. When it refused, the office sued on behalf of Washington passengers. More than 420,000 passengers were taken to or from Greyhound's Spokane Intermodal Center between 2013 and 2020, during which time the company allowed the ICE sweeps.

Washington's suit had been set to go to trial Monday, but at the last minute Greyhound agreed to the consent degree, to avoid going to trial.

While Greyhound updates its policies, Ferguson and his office continue to encourage Greyhound customers who were detained, arrested, or deported by one of these immigration sweeps to contact the Attorney General’s Wing Luke Civil Rights Division at 1-833-660-4877, or by emailing Greyhound@atg.wa.gov.