Miscellaneous
(7/10/19) On July 1, when ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson revealed the existence of a secret Facebook group of 9,500 Border Patrol agents containing posts joking about migrant deaths and illustrations of the President sexually assaulting a Congresswoman, the reaction was swift and severe. Acting secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan promised to hold accountable “any employee found to have compromised the public’s trust,” as reported by Vox, and Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, called for a formal investigation. But according to reporting by Ted Hesson and Cristiano Lima of POLITICO, the existence of the group had been an open secret among Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials for years. This week on “TrumpWatch with Jesse Lent” on WBAI, Ted Hesson discusses what we know about the now-defunct group, who knew about it at CBP and what it tells us about the prevailing culture among Border Patrol agents.