Nov 10, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Border Patrol official: Racist Facebook posts will "absolutely" face consequences

In an interview with Jim VandeHei for "Axios on HBO," acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan said members of a Border Patrol Facebook group that joked about migrant deaths will "absolutely" face consequences.

The big picture: A ProPublica report showed that the group was created in August 2016 and titled "I'm 10-15," referencing the Border Patrol code for "aliens in custody." While the group described itself as a space for "funny" and "serious" conversations about the field, it often housed racist and sexually explicit comments on immigrants and Hispanic lawmakers.

  • CBP launched an investigation into the page in July. The group had approximately 9,500 members, made up of current and former Border Patrol agents.

What they're saying:

"What we did immediately is we put a kind of a task force together, specifically designed to take a look at the Facebook and not just Facebook, but other social media issues as well. We put that together and we actually expedited the process. So right now it's going through the process, and it's in its final stages of actually handing out that ultimate disciplinary for those individuals that it's justified."
— Mark Morgan to "Axios on HBO"

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Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

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  3. Politics: Trump wears face mask in public for first time.
  4. States: Florida smashes single-day record for new coronavirus cases with over 15,000.
  5. Public health: Trump's coronavirus testing czar says lockdowns in hotspots "should be on the table" — We're losing the war on the coronavirus.
  6. Education: Betsy DeVos says schools that don't reopen shouldn't get federal funds — Pelosi accuses Trump of "messing with the health of our children."
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Data: Covid Tracking Project; Chart: Axios Visuals

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