The head of U.S. Border Patrol does not approve of nearly 10,000 of her agents belonging to a violently racist, misogynist Facebook group. “These posts are completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor and integrity I see—and expect—from our agents day in and day out,” said Border Patrol chief Carla Provost. “Any employees found to have violated our standards of conduct will be held accountable.”
It will sure be interesting to see what Provost considers to count as holding people accountable for things such as graphic, sexually violent, doctored images of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and posts mocking the deaths of migrants. And from what Ocasio-Cortez and other members of Congress who toured border facilities on Monday reported, the cruelty and racism of the Facebook posts absolutely reflects how border agents treat detained migrants.
Donald Trump responded to questions about the Facebook posts—which he claimed not to have seen—by saying, “So the Border Patrol, they’re patriots, they’re great people. They love our country. They know who’s coming in.” No question Trump will continue to take the side of abusive racists over frightened migrants. After all, he himself is one of those things.