Border Patrol chief condemns 'completely inappropriate' private Facebook group for agents
Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost spoke out on Monday against derogatory posts found in a secret Facebook group for current and former agents, calling them "completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor and integrity I see — and expect — from our agents day in and day out."
ProPublica reported earlier in the day about the group, which has about 9,500 members. There were several sexually explicit posts about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on the page, ProPublica said, as well as a chain of comments questioning the authenticity of a photo showing a migrant father and his daughter who drowned last month in the Rio Grande.
Ocasio-Cortez and several other Democratic lawmakers spent Monday touring detention facilities in Texas, and described "appalling" conditions, with Ocasio-Cortez adding that the Facebook posts are "just indicative of the violent culture that we saw." Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said there will likely be a congressional investigation into the posts, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced a probe into "disturbing social media activity" is underway.
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President Trump, meanwhile, told reporters he did not see any of the posts, The Associated Press reports, and defended Border Patrol agents, saying they're "patriots, they're great people. They love our country. They know who's coming in."
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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