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US Homeland Security Chief Orders Probe of Agents' Offensive Facebook Posts

Ken Bredemeier

   The U.S. Homeland Security chief on Wednesday ordered an immediate
   investigation into a report that current and former U.S. Border Patrol
   agents are part of a Facebook group that posts racist, sexist and
   violent comments about migrants and Latin American lawmakers.

   Acting Homeland Security secretary Kevin McAleenan said "any employee
   found to have compromised the public's trust in our law enforcement
   mission will be held accountable."

   McAleenan said those contributing to the Facebook postings "do not
   represent the men and women of the Border Patrol" or the Homeland
   Security agency.

     I have directed an immediate investigation, and as the [1]@USBPChief
     has made clear, any employee found to have compromised the public's
     trust in our law enforcement mission will be held accountable. They
     do not represent the men and women of the Border Patrol or
     [2]@DHSgov.
     -- Acting Sec. Kevin McAleenan (@DHSMcAleenan) [3]July 3, 2019

   McAleenan's investigation came two days after a ProPublica
   investigative report said the Facebook posts included sexually explicit
   images and remarks mocking migrant deaths, including the highly
   publicized deaths of an El Salvador man and his 23-month-old daughter
   who drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to cross the river that
   separates Mexico and the United States.

   The Facebook group is called "I'm 10-15," the Border Patrol's code for
   "Aliens in Custody."

   The furor over the Facebook postings comes at the height of political
   turmoil in the U.S. over several related immigration issues.

   President Donald Trump is trying to curb the surge of thousands of
   migrants, mostly from Central America, traveling through Mexico to try
   to reach the United States to seek asylum and has announced his
   intention to soon launch raids in major U.S. cities to arrest migrants
   who have already been given deportation orders and send them back to
   their homelands.

   'Appalling' conditions

References

   1. https://twitter.com/USBPChief?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://twitter.com/DHSgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   3. https://twitter.com/DHSMcAleenan/status/1146398640962977793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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