CBP refuses to charge 27 child pornographers and frees them.

Once again, CBP claims to arrest chid predators but refuses to hold them accountable.

Photo by Ольга Андреева on Unsplash

I first heard of the cruise ship child pornography bust CBP executed this past week from our local San Diego news channels. They stated that CBP conducted inspections of cruise ship employees from April 23-27th and arrested 28 documented persons working on those ships. CBP claimed 27 of the 28 were found to be associated with child pornography.

This immediately got my attention because it did not make any sense. Here are the tells that make me suspicious of CBP’s claims.

First, when ICE, CBP or Border Patrol arrest child predators, they brag about it with mug shots. No mug shots have been released which means they are concerned about defamation. Second, CBP gave zero information as to who these child predators are. The press has been given, no names, no alien identification numbers, no court case numbers to follow. Three, the story spread after the initial reports in right-wing blog posts before ending up in the New York Post, a known Donald Trump and right-wing anti-immigrant propaganda rag. This is the normal chain of spread for right-wing press. Then national Fox News picked it up and USA Today.

“CBP reports 27 of the 28 people detained by federal officials were involved in either the receipt, possession, transportation, distribution, or viewing of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) or child pornography,” said one report. CBP, Border Patrol and ICE all pride themselves on preventing child predators from remaining in the country. And yet, the same report also stated, “CBP reports all 27 suspected crew members’ visas were cancelled and they were returned to their country of citizenship.”

Wait, visas cancelled and all were “returned?” No charges? For the most heinous crime of child pornography?

CBP arrested 27 people, accused them publicly of being involved with the production and distribution of child pornography but did not press any charges? What? That is the biggest tell that CBP might not be telling the truth. If this operation was targeted as they claim, where was ICE HSI? To be clear, CBP has the authority to check cruise ships. This is not new. But usually, child pornography is the purview of ICE HSI.

If this was a child pornography operation, why not charge them? Is it not the goal of federal law enforcement to find criminals, charge them and hold them accountable? Where is the Department of Justice in all of this? Is it acceptable to just accuse people of child pornography with no proof, refuse to file charges, strip them of their visas, deny them of due process for criminal allegations and then “remove” them with no formal deportations hearings?

Well, that is what they want you to think. They want you to think it is legal and constitutional to grab Black and Brown people, vaguely accuse them of child sex crimes and simply “remove” them with no due process. And as you see, the media is only willing to help them do it. As of this writing, not a single outlet has even questioned their actions.

Think back to the first deportations raids. No, not the ones in Los Angeles. I’m talking about the ones in Kern County, California. The ones that happened before Trump was sworn in a second time in January 2025. The ones that were the audition for the flamboyant Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino. In those raids, he claimed the arrests were “targeted” against criminals even though anyone could see agents just stood outside a convenience store waiting for Brown people to exit with their morning coffee before tackling them. Bovino stated to the media at the time that all 78 arrests were criminals.

But then we found out Bovino lied. His words above were NOT TRUE! Cal Matters called it “misleading,” but I prefer the term lying. Bovino lied so much, judges have ruled that he perjured himself about use of force and attacking protestors, with Judge Ellis stating she found him to not be credible.

ICE, CBP and Border Patrol rely on the fact that most press will not call them out for this. Most will simply regurgitate what they are told: “CBP claims all were involved in child pornography.” Readers’ minds swirl with disgust. They are happy CBP is boldly targeting child predators. CBP will now add these arrests of “child predators” to their stats.

But can we see their mug shots? No. Can we see the charges? There are none. Can we bring some justice to these child predators? No, we “removed” them without a judicial order.

ICE, CBP and Border Patrol love to harp on deterrence to prevent criminal activity. Border Patrol’s entire failed border policy revolves around making crossing the border so physically painful, it deters others from crossing. Thirty years later, they still falsely claim it works. CBP deters people from even requesting asylum by arresting them for simply walking up and asking for it. ICE is starting to deter legal asylum claims by holding entire families in detention for years just to have their claims heard before a judge. “There must be consequences for their immigration violations,” is heard all throughout immigration enforcement rhetoric and politicking.

Yet, when it comes to child pornography and sex crimes, they let people they claim are predators go. There is no deterrence. I’m not surprised by this hypocrisy. When Attorney General Pam Bondi first took office, she dropped all the charges against unaccompanied child detention center Southwest Key employees who were accused of sexually assaulting children in custody. We also know that several high-ranking CBP officers enabled and did not prevent the Epstein trafficking. We also know the head of CBP’s Border Patrol, Chief Michael Banks is a known sex tourism fan and the government couldn't care less even though that is also illegal.

So, while ICE, CBP and Border Patrol claim to be protecting us all from violent criminals committing everything from child pornography to sex trafficking, they simply are not charging or even investigating many of these cases. At most, they just strip people of their documents and “remove” them based on hunches.

To be fair, ICE recently charged and convicted a woman for organizing and filming animal torture films and posting them on the internet. ICE Director Todd Lyons was so disturbed by videos of monkeys beings sexually assaulted he made a public statement about it. I agree, and believe those involved should spend the rest of their lives in jail. At the same time, I see no comments or even threat of investigations for the men who drugged and raped their wives and then sold the videos on the internet. Those videos are still up.

Because abuse and rape of animals is far worse than when you do it to women and children?

ICE, CBP and Border Patrol engage in media baiting to push propaganda. They are presenting documented immigrants as criminals without any evidence and “removing” them without any due process, and the press takes the bait every time. This is a literal plan within the agencies to portray legal immigrants as criminals in order to justify deporting more of them. I am serious; this is a literal plan being carried out.

Why must the immigration agencies target legal immigrants for removals? Two reasons: they have lied to the public about how many immigrants are criminals to justify their mass deportations and ballooned budgets, and because the actual goal is to reduce the Black and Brown populations of this country. When it comes to child pornography, they offer little deterrence.

Are they too lazy to do the work? Perhaps, but my bet is that most of these people did not have child pornography ties. My bet is that CBP is again lying. It’s either that or CBP does not care to hold child pornographers accountable.

Whichever is the case, the press is inclined to keep repeating their claims without any investigation. Children are still being preyed upon. These cruise ships who cater to families could possibly have a defamation suit on their hands if CBP is lying. The title to the press’ articles should not be “CBP says they arrested 27 child pornographers on cruise ships.” It should be “CBP refuses to charge people for alleged child pornography, strips them of their rights and disappears them.”

This is extremely dangerous, because if they can do this to immigrants, to legal immigrants, then they can do this to everyone.