A Japanese vehicle manufacturer that provides vehicles to US Customs and Border Protection.
Honda Motor Co., Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, is a Japanese manufacturer of cars, motorcycles, and other vehicles.
Honda supplies all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and other equipment to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Between 2005 and 2021, CBP purchased over $10.7 million worth of Honda vehicles and equipment under 27 contracts. Sixteen of these contracts were specifically for the purchase of ATVs, motorcycles, or dirt bikes.
CBP has purchased Honda FourTrax Rancher ATVs, Rincon ATVs, CRF450X dirt bikes, CRF250X off-road motorcycles, and other equipment. Some contracts specify where these vehicles have been delivered. For example, CBP’s Tucson Sector in Arizona has received CRF450x dirt bikes for use “in the field,” while the agency’s New Orleans Sector has received FourTrax Rancher ATVs.
Most of these contracts are with third-party dealers, such as McQuade & Bannigan of New York and Davis Service Center of Colorado. However, CBP awarded Honda subsidiary American Honda Motor with two contracts in 2006 for unspecified equipment.
U.S. Border Patrol agents use ATVs and other vehicles manufactured by Honda to patrol rugged terrain surrounding the U.S.–Mexico border, especially in remote areas that are inaccessible to other vehicles. Agents also use these vehicles to transport passengers and equipment, as outlined in a 2020 Government Accountability Office report. This same report also found that CBP misused $112 million of emergency funds that it received in 2019 by purchasing “transportation-related items, including vehicles such as ATVs, motorcycles, dirt bikes, boats, passenger vans, and small utility vehicles,” instead of using this money to provide hygiene products, food, clothing, and medical supplies to individuals in its custody.