Multiple news sources are reporting that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently deported at least 18 Filipino crew members from the Carnival Sunshine in Norfolk, Virginia. The ship employees reportedly were not provided with the opportunity to retain legal counsel but were forcibly detained and taken from the Carnival cruise ship in handcuffs and then deported to the Philippines.

Several news stations initially reported that the crew members were not provided with an explanation why they were deported. Subsequent sources indicate that CBP accused the men of possession of child pornography. However, CBP did not present the employees with any evidence in support of such serious accusations. None of these crew members were arrested. (Whenever a crew member is arrested, the arresting officers would be required to file probable cause affidavits establishing detailed factual information supporting the basis for the arrests and criminal charges filed against the accused men.) Since the crew members were deported and not arrested no affidavits were filed. The Carnival employees have denied they ever possessed child pornography.

Readers of this blog are well aware of my strong belief that crew members and cruise ship passengers who possess or transmit child pornography should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. With that said, I also believe in the U.S. Constitution and the rights and protections afforded thereunder, including the right to counsel, Miranda rights, due process, and equal protection of the law. I am greatly troubled by what appears to be the lawless activities of U.S. federal customs and immigration officers who have engaged in mass deportations of unrepresented Filipino crew members based on unsubstantiated accusations.

Federal immigration officers first confronted around “18-20” Carnival crew members on the Carnival Sunshine at the Port of Norfolk in late March and April. The agents reportedly told them they allegedly found evidence of child pornography on all of the workers’ computers. A representative of a Filipino advocacy group said: “They did not come with a shred of evidence, no formal charges, nothing.” When confronted with the allegations, many of the workers willingly handed over their phones to try and clear their names. The crew members were initially released from detention but were again accused last week, but not charged, with possession of child pornography.

All of the Filipino crew members were working with valid C1/D seaman visas which CBP were cancelled. They were also banned for 10 years from re-entry to the United States.

Advocacy groups protested the illegal abductions. “These crew members are dedicated parents and spouses with exemplary backgrounds, having passed rigorous background checks to obtain their work visas. Their abrupt removal, accompanied by the cancellation of their visas and a shocking 10-year ban from reentry, has inflicted deep humiliation, plunging their families into dire financial straits.”

The advocacy groups stated the immigration raid reflects “a disturbing national trend that has seen other crew members deported under similar false pretenses, despite their valid visas and lack of criminal charges. Unlike previous cases where there was evidence and prosecution, none of the workers on the Carnival Sunshine have been charged with anything,” a representative of an advocacy group said. They continued, “What we think is there is actually no evidence.”

CBP’s new focus on deporting immigrants has instilled fear and apprehension in the tens of thousands of hard-working crew members. One advocacy group said the remaining crew members “are left in fear of being the next victims of these aggressive actions.”

On July 15th, we reported that CBP deported as many as thirteen crew members from two cruise ships (Victory I and Victory II) operated by Victory Cruise line on the Great Lakes. CBP made similar raids on other cruise ships, including the Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, where a total of sixteen crew members were detained and deported from Detroit last week. In May, we reported on CBP apprehending eleven Royal Caribbean crew members. CBP deported ten employees and arrested just one on a charge of possession of child pornography. Read: Blurred Faces and Omitted Names: Customs and Border Protection Arrest One and Deport Ten Crew Members for Child Exploitation. All except one crew member were deported after being accused of possession of child pornography. No one, except the sole Royal Caribbean employee, was arrested and provided with due process or legal counsel before they were handcuffed and deported.

54% of the American public believe that the current administration has “gone too far” in deporting immigrants and non-American citizens. Images of masked ICE agents snatching foreign students from public streets and stuffing them in vans without license plates or abducting foreign workers from Home Depot parking lots or sending immigrants to gulags in El Salvador have rightfully infuriated most Americans. In my view, CBP’s accusations against crew members of possessing child pornography without producing evidence or providing ship employees with due process or access to counsel will add to public’s further realization that this is not the correct manner in which to manage immigration.

Unfortunately, it does not appear that Carnival Cruise Line is inclined to provide any real assistance to its former ship employees who they quickly fired after CBP officers were permitted to board the Carnival cruise ship. Other crew members may be subject to arbitrary and unlawful immigration actions but Carnival has chosen not to educate its employees regarding how to protect themselves when CBP comes for them in the future. Carnival’s statement following the debacle does not instill confidence: “This is a law enforcement matter. Carnival always cooperates with law enforcement investigations…”

Filipino and crew member advocacy groups have called on Carnival to support their employees: “We are challenging Carnival; they should be protecting these workers. They benefit from them and should provide legal counsel.”

By my estimation, there have been at least 50 crew members holding seaman C1/D visa who have been deported from at least six cruise ships from four cruise companies (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Victory and Viking Expedition) in the last three months. One news source reports that more than 100 Filipino cruise ship workers have been detained and deported in U.S. immigration raids since April of this year. Included is this number are “80 Filipino workers from Carnival’s Mardi Gras and the Carnival Vista, both based in Port Canaveral in Florida… were deported between April and May this year” and “21 Carnival Sunshine crew members… were ‘falsely accused’ of possessing child pornography ‘without a shred of evidence’ and have not been charged or found guilty of any crime.”

Expect more hard-working crew to be arbitrarily treated the same way as anonymous federal immigration and border officers continue to deny basic legal rights and protections to crew members in order to meet their immigration quotas.

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Interested in this issue? Read:

Inquirer: Filipino seafarer decries ‘harassment’ by US officers

Business Mirror: ‘We were detained like criminals’: 18 Pinoy cruise ship workers deported from U.S.

The Virginia-Pilot: Advocates protest detentions and deportations of cruise ship employees in Norfolk

Inquiry: PH workers removed from cruise ship in US raid

WTKR: Advocates in Norfolk urge Carnival to support Filipino crew amid deportations

Inquiry: More than 100 Filipino cruise ship workers detained, deported in US raids

Image Credit: Protest – Kendall Warner via Virginian-Pilot; Carnival Sunshine – Carnival via Marino PH; Protest – 13NewsNow; Carnival funnel – Cruzely.