ProPublica has just revealed the findings of its investigation into a secret Facebook group made up of almost 10,000 border patrol agents. According to ProPublica, the conversations posted on that Facebook group are not simply offensive, they reveal the dark brutality and callousness of a group of enforcement officers charged with securing our country’s southern border. The group is called “I’m 10-15,” after the code for “aliens in custody.” Some of the posts include:
- A vulgar illustration of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being forced by Donald Trump to engage in oral sex with the president, text reading “That's right bitches. The masses have spoken and today democracy won. I have returned. To everyone who knows the real me and had my back I say thank you. To everyone else? This is what I have to say.....”
- A post concerning the death of a 16-year-old boy from Guatemala who died after being detained in a DHS contracted facility. The responses include GIFs saying “Oh well,” as well as other soulless commentary like “If he dies, he dies.”
- Frequent comments calling female representatives touring border facilities “bitches,” and “hoes,” and “scum buckets,” and other intense sexism and misogyny.
- One member jokes about throwing a “10-15 burrito at one of these bitches,” referring to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Veronica Escobar.
Probably the saddest and most telling is a post showing the now-viral photo of a father and his young child lying face down after drowning in the Rio Grande, a casualty of our current policies. The accompanying text on the post tells you the kind of minds that are protecting our nation.
”Ok, I’m gonna go ahead and ask…...have y’all ever seen floaters this clean. I’m not trying to be an a$$ but I HAVE NEVER SEEN FLOATERS LIKE THIS, could this be another edited photo. We’ve all seen the dems and liberal parties do some pretty sick things….”
There’s a desensitization going on, even among Border Patrol agents, that forces someone to try and rationalize this horrific tragedy as some kind of make-em-up plot device created by a computer. No one’s humanity goes untouched by this brutality. We all lose something.
It’s time for Congress to get involved and check the Border Patrol.
If you want to help, here are some organizations doing work on the ground, helping migrant children and their families.