Border Patrol agents reportedly have a commemorative coin about detained migrant children

A coin circulated by Border Patrol agents.
(Image credit: Dara Lind/ProPublica)

Border Patrol agents are fully aware that caring for migrant children isn't in their job description.

But some of them have reportedly gotten sick of the added burden of feeding, processing, and transporting migrants — so much so that they've emblazoned those duties on a commemorative coin "mocking" the fact that they're performing them instead of patrolling the border, ProPublica reports. The coin is unofficial, yet features the Border Patrol logo, and has been "circulating among Border Patrol agents at the U.S.-Mexico border," ProPublica continues.

One side of the coin, which ProPublica obtained, features an image that resembles the migrant caravans that arrived at the border last year. The people carry a Honduran flag, and all appear to be men, though the real caravan included women and children. The edge of the coin reads "keep the caravan coming." On the other side, agents are shown bottle-feeding an infant and fingerprinting what appears to be a teenage boy, with the words "feeding," "processing," "hospital," and "transport" written around the edge.

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So-called "challenge coins" like these aren't uncommon, and they're usually unofficial like this one, ProPublica reports. It's not clear where this coin comes from, but it was distributed as early as April and has been discussed or spotted by agents in both Texas and California. They were also promoted in the secret Facebook group where agents reportedly mocked migrant deaths and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

CBP officials said they hadn't heard about the coin until ProPublica contacted them about it. One unnamed official said CBP "has a firm policy on the use and production of challenge coins bearing CBP identifiers," but suggested the coin would be fine if it didn't include the logo. Read more, and find a picture of the coin, at ProPublica.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.