Greyhound Lines Inc. will pay $2.2 in legal fees and restitution to settle a case with Washington state. In addition to the fines, the bus line will no longer allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to conduct warrantless immigration sweeps on its buses.
According to the state’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson, the money will be used to provide restitution to detained, arrested, or deported passengers. Part of the settlement amount will go to pay the state’s legal fees.
“My office first insisted that Greyhound make these corporate reforms in 2019,” Ferguson said in a statement. “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.”
He added, “Greyhound has an obligation to its customers — an obligation it cannot set aside so immigration agents can go on fishing expeditions aboard its buses.”
Greyhound will also be required to make several corporate policy changes, issue a public statement that it will not allow immigration agents to board its buses without a warrant or reasonable suspicion, and place stickers on buses stating the same.
The suit was filed back in April of 2020, alleging that the company has allowed sweeps on its buses since at least 2013. Greyhound publicly acknowledged the sweeps in 2018. Greyhound argued it was obligated to allow the practice. However, a CBP official confirmed that agents could only conduct warrantless sweeps about buses with the company’s owner’s or employee’s permission.
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