Tag Archives: Border Patrol

This has got to be a coincidence, right? Yesterday, ICE carried out what is believed to be the largest immigration raid in decades when they detained 680 workers at seven poultry plants in Morton, Mississippi. The workers, many of them members of the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), were employed by a company called Koch Foods Inc, which …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: As President Trump continues to praise his administration’s plan to beat the HIV epidemic by 2030, a top Trump administration official says an immigrant’s HIV status is enough to justify family separation at the border. Brian Hastings, chief of Customs & Border Patrol, made the remarks during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing …

“Speaking of dehumanization, who’s been dehumanized? It’s been the ICE agents and the Border Patrol agents whose motives are being impugned every single day. Four thousand people rescued is a fact. We know that’s what they do on the border to save kids, to save women, to save men who make this dangerous journey. So it’s all disingenuous. It’s very …

ProPublica reports: An unofficial commemorative coin has been circulating among Border Patrol agents at the U.S./Mexico border, mocking the task of caring for migrant children and other duties that have fallen to agents as families cross into the U.S. On the front, the coin declares “KEEP THE CARAVANS COMING” under an image of a massive parade of people carrying a …

Quartz reports: A large, framed photo of far-right commentator Tomi Lahren posing with US Border Patrol officials hangs prominently on the wall of the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC. A person with access to the area described the setting and shared a picture of it with Quartz. Lahren, a vocal supporter of US president Donald Trump, has called immigrants “shifty …

ABC News reports: An internal memo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that the agency’s leadership was aware, from as early as February 2018, of at least one private Facebook group that included “inappropriate and offensive posts” by its personnel. The agency said on Monday it has launched an investigation into a Facebook group known as “I’m 10-15,” after …

CNN reports: US Customs and Border Patrol agents at a migrant processing center in Texas allegedly attempted to humiliate a Honduran migrant by making him hold a sign that read, “I like men,” according to emails written by an agent who witnessed the incident. The emails — obtained by CNN — were sent to the agent’s supervisor and outlined the …

Brandon Judd writes for Fox News: As the president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing 16,000 Border Patrol agents, I am personally and professionally offended by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s outrageous, inflammatory and false claims about the dedicated law enforcement officers I represent. By comparing Border Patrol agents to Nazis, Ocasio-Cortez is trying to dehumanize us. Interestingly, this …

ProPublica reports: Members of a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents joked about the deaths of migrants, discussed throwing burritos at Latino members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas on Monday and posted a vulgar illustration depicting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaged in oral sex with a detained migrant, according to screenshots of their postings. …

Reuters reports: A member of an armed group known for stopping migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border has been arrested after authorities charged him with impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent, according to court documents. Jim Benvie, spokesman for the Guardian Patriots, who have been camped at the border near Sunland Park, New Mexico, was arrested on Friday in Oklahoma after …

The Guardian reports: Armed right wing militia members detained a large group of migrants at the US-Mexico border and coordinated with US border patrol agents to have them arrested, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, in a series of actions the civil liberties organization called a “kidnapping” and a flagrant violation of the law. Several videos taken at the …

CNN reports: During President Trump’s visit to the border at Calexico, California, a week ago, where he told border agents to block asylum seekers from entering the US contrary to US law, the President also told the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Kevin McAleenan, that if he were sent to jail as a result of blocking those migrants from …

CNN reports: Last Friday, the President visited Calexico, California, where he said, “We’re full, our system’s full, our country’s full — can’t come in! Our country is full, what can you do? We can’t handle any more, our country is full. Can’t come in, I’m sorry. It’s very simple.” Behind the scenes, two sources told CNN, the President told border …

Politico reports: A union that represents Border Patrol agents recently deleted a webpage that said building walls and fences along the border to stop illegal immigration would be “wasting taxpayer money.” The deleted webpage, posted in 2012, argued that border barriers don’t tackle the root causes of migration — and could potentially encourage more migrants to enter the U.S. fraudulently …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump on Saturday attempted to blame Democrats for the two deaths of immigrant children being held by his Border Patrol and Customs enforcement officers. “Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Customs and Border Protection has ordered medical checks on every child in its custody after an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died, marking the second death of an immigrant child in the agency’s care this month. The death came during an ongoing dispute over border security and with a partial government shutdown underway over President Donald …

Talking Points Memo reports: While addressing a question about the death of a 7-year-old migrant girl — who died of shock and dehydration while in Border Patrol custody — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen harped on the “dangers of this journey.” She called the death “heart-wrenching,” but said it was “a very sad example” of what can happen …

The Arizona Daily Star reports: The Sawmill Fire is shown erupting from an exploding target — with blue smoke curling off the fire’s fringes — in a video just obtained by the Arizona Daily Star. The 49-second video clearly shows the fire starting in yellow grassland near a stand of mesquite trees from the exploding target on state land in …

The Hill reports: Former U.S. Border Patrol deputy chief Ron Colburn early Monday defended the use of pepper spray to deter migrants attempting to enter the U.S. at the Mexican border, saying it is “natural” and “you could actually put it on your nachos and eat it.” “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy asked Colburn, who is now president of …

The Associated Press reports: Migrants approaching the U.S. border from Mexico have been enveloped with tear gas after a few tried to breach the fence separating the two countries. U.S. agents shot the gas, according to an Associated Press reporter on the scene. Children were screaming and coughing in the mayhem. U.S. Border Patrol helicopters flew low overhead, while U.S. …