Former Border Patrol Agent Pleads Guilty to Forcing Female Migrants to Undress

Former US Border Patrol agent Shane Millan, 53, pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of civil rights violations for coercing female migrants to expose themselves under the guise of official searches.

The charges stem from incidents in August 2023 at Millan's post on Wellesley Island in Upstate New York, where he exploited his authority to demand that four women display their breasts, claiming it was a necessary part of their entry processing. Millan deceived the women, stating that the exposures were required to check for alleged tattoos as indicated in their immigration files. In one instance, on August 10, Millan remotely processed a woman and her infant daughter in Eagle Pass, Texas.

After demanding she prove she had no chest tattoos by showing her breasts via webcam, Millan insisted on a second exposure before finalizing her entry into the US. This pattern recurred with another woman from Eagle Pass two weeks later, where Millan again cited the need to check for tattoos, instructing her husband and children to leave the room before demanding she expose herself twice. Prosecutors dropped two additional charges against Millan as part of the plea agreement.

He now faces a potential sentence of up to two years in prison and a $200,000 fine, with sentencing scheduled for July. Millan's attorney, Robert Wells, has not issued a statement on the case. Millan's actions were in direct violation of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policies, which require supervisory approval for any strip searches and explicitly forbid voyeurism. The case has drawn criticism from human rights advocates, including Vicki Gaubeca, associate director of Human Rights Watch's US immigration and border policy program, who stated that such abuse by Border Patrol agents is a recurring issue.

While acknowledging Millan's guilty plea as a step toward accountability, Gaubeca emphasizes the broader issue of impunity within the agency. She contends that some agents view abusive behavior as a deterrent, intended to traumatize migrants and discourage border crossings.