Meeks seeks answers on Border Patrol remarks
BY MARK HALLUM
Congressman Gregory
Meeks is calling on the
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection to answer for a
Facebook group with over
9,000 agents which made
derogatory and sexist
remarks against Hispanic
migrants and politicians in
a letter signed by 14 other
Members of Congress.
The letter, addressed
to CBP Acting
Commissioner Kevin
McAleenan, asks if the
agency has protocols to
prevent and react to bigotry
among its personnel and if
it plans to implement any
measures in the wake of a
ProPublica report revealing
the secret online group.
“We are deeply
concerned by revelations
of over 9,000 current and
former employees of the
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection participating
in a Facebook group where
derogatory and racially
offensive comments and
content are shared,”
Meeks’ letter said. “Some
of the material suggests
that these employees,
whom have the public
trust to look after refugees
and migrants at our
border, are dehumanizing
these children and
families. That content
included jokes about the
death of a 16-year-old
Guatemalan boy.”
The letter specifically
asks if there are guidelines
to determine whether or not
agents have gender or racial
bias prior to incidents and
if CBP will enact cultural
changes.
It asks if there are
structures in place to
react to breaches in code
of conduct as well as
ascertaining the number
of complaints filed against
CBP by migrants and other
parties to the Department of
Homeland Security’s Office
of the Inspector General
regarding conduct.
“Given reports of
neglect and abuse at these
facilities, observed by
doctors, lawyers, reporters,
and Members of this
Congress, the workplace
culture demonstrated
by this page is not just
inappropriate, it is
dangerous to the welfare
of children, women and
girls, and others held
in CBP facilities,” the
letter added.
Among the 14 signed
onto the letter are Carolyn
Maloney, Nydia Velazquez,
Grace Meng, Tom Suozzi
and Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez who has made
multiple visits to migrant
detention centers along
the border.
Many posts within
the secret Facebook
group, named “I’m 10-15,”
poked fun at images of
immigrants found dead on
the southern border and
depicted doctored images
of Ocasio-Cortez engaged
in oral sex with President
Donald Trump.
P r o P u b l i c a
corroborated the profiles
of Border Patrol agents
from discussions
threats to real Facebook
accounts.
Ocasio-Cortez recently
visited a south Texas
detention center where
women were forced to
drink out of toilets and
claimed guards were
waging “psychological
warfare” on them.
This came after a
Trump administration
lawyer admitted that
children in CBP custody
were not provided
toothbrushes or soap.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by email at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260–4564.
Photo: Flickr Creative Commons
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