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Top officials at US Customs and Border Patrol has been reported to have been routinely posted by A.C. Thompson at ProPublica. That group may be one of its kind, depending on reporting a second, smaller, but similar Facebook group.
An investigation by ProPublica earlier this week revealed that some 9,500 border patrol agents were part of a secret Facebook group where they shared sexist and racist memes, joked about the deaths of migrants, and suggested that the now-famous photo of a man and toddler who Drowned in the Rio Grande had been doctored.
Following publication of that story, a spokesman for Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) told ProPublica that it would investigate the findings. CBP officials have been made aware of the fact that they have been made aware of this issue in August 2016, and that this is an opportunity.
According to Politico's Ted Hesson and Cristiano Lima, who spoke to and trained at the Department of Homeland Security, CBP's leadership was first made aware of the contents of the group – known as "I'm 10-15," a reference to the code for "aliens in custody" – as early as 2016. The sources quoted did not know of any discipline that had been put in place.
An anonymous CBP official told the Washington Post 's Reis Thebault and Nick Miroff, the agency' s internal affairs unit.
At least one post, which featured simulated sexual content, was brought to the attention of then Border Patrol chief and current acting CBP Chief Mark Morgan, who has not commented on the group.
These reports seem to be contradictory to the statements of the other senior officials, who have expressed their interest in the group's existence and promised investigations into its origins and participants.
US Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said in a statement, "These posts are completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor and integrity I see – and expect – from our agents day in and day out. Any employees found to have their accountable. "
And the acting secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, said it will be investigated and will ensure that it will be held accountable.
Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asked for a full report on how much is better known about the group ahead of ProPublica's reporting on Friday.
In a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, Thompson specifically said that he was concerned about any knowledge. McAleenan and Morgan may have had about the group, "If accurate, this report calls into question Mr. Morgan's fitness to hold office in the United States. "
Other, similar explicit CBP Facebook groups may exist
The I'm 10-15 group may not be the only one. On Friday, a second, smaller, but similar group was reported on CNN 's Geneva Sands and Nick Valencia.
The Real CBP Nation, "The Real CBP Nation," revealed the truth of a similar nature: mischievous images, manipulated images of sexual violence, and even making light of conditions in migrant detention centers at the southern border, where recent reports have found that men, women and children with inadequate access to food, water, and basic hygiene.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who traveled to the United States just hours after the ProPublica investigation went live. One post in the larger group of people to give a burrito to the Latina legislator during her tour.
The I'm 10-15 group was shut down shortly after the publication of the ProPublica investigation. According to CNN, Facebook has removed some content from that group. A CBP spokesperson told CNN The Real CBP Nation is also under investigation.
It is not clear if CBP was about the existence of The Real CBP Nation previously. According to a private memo obtained by CNN, senior officials in 2018 warned employees not to participate in an offensive social media page that they had just discovered – but did not identify the name of the group.
Disciplining agents participating in these groups could be difficult
These Facebook groups came as CBP and the US 'Detention and Detention in the United States of America. facilities. The Associated Press detailed one facility where young girls took care of a child.
In a statement immediately following ProPublica's investigation, Customs and Border Protection Chief Carla Provost said that the agency would be investigating the social media groups and would discipline employees who had participated in them.
Department of Homeland Security officials said on Tuesday that the agency's internal watchdog had been launched.
Following the report on the second group, CBP Spokesman Matt Leas told CNN that the agency would "investigate the facts."
"If the investigation verifies that employees are in breach of CBP's code of conduct, the findings will be informed about the appropriate disciplinary action," he said.
Although CBP maintains an internal code of conduct that prohibits discrimination and harassment, civil servants also enjoy substantive free speech protections. This makes it unclear whether or how participants – some of whom seem to be retired – could be disciplined by the government.
Politicians' Writes Ted Hesson and Cristiano Limo:
The government … is obliged to protect federal employees' right to address matters of public concern, and may punish them only if their speech interferes with the performance of their jobs.
"Typically, if people are expressing political views, that is considered to be protected speech," [attorney Shannon] Farmer said. However, law enforcement officers who use the language may give the impression they will not be able to perform their job without bias. "You really need to look at the very specific language that they're using," she said.
Should agents behave in a different way to their jobs, they could have a range of disciplinary actions, including anything from a formal reprimand to being fired.
Also, the issue of sexual violence has been raised, which is said to be a violation of the social media platform's rules against sexual content and hate speech.
This issue was raised by House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings of Maryland, who wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying that the posts in I'm 10-15 group violated the company's standards against hate speech, and called on the company to maintain records of the group and its posts – records that members began to scream as early as Monday afternoon, according to the Intercept.
It was decided that it would be fully responsible for the content, but did it on Tuesday.
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