Associated Press
FILE - This May 29, 2019 file photo released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows some of 1,036 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas.
- Customs and Border Protection officials publicly humiliated a migrant detained at a Texas processing center by forcing him to walk through the facility holding a sign reading "I like men" in Spanish, CNN reported Thursday.
- According to emails and a photograph of the sign obtained by CNN, an agent at the El Paso Processing Center ordered the migrant to walk around the facility holding a paper sign reading "me gustan los hombres."
- The agent who reported the incident said in the emails that they had seen "several colleagues displaying poor behavior and management's failure to act," CNN summarized.
- In response to CNN's request for comment, CBP said their internal Office of Professional Responsibility was investigating the matter.
- CBP has been under increased scrutiny in recent days after a number of reports uncovered multiple private Facebook groups in which CBP agents mocked migrants and Democratic members of Congress.
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Customs and Border Protection officials tried to humiliate a migrant detained at a Texas processing center by forcing him to walk through the facility holding a sign reading "I like men" in Spanish, CNN reported Thursday.
According to emails and a photograph of the sign obtained by CNN, an agent at the El Paso Processing Center ordered the migrant, who was not named in the story, to walk in front of a group of other migrants awaiting processing holding a paper sign reading "me gustan los hombre(s)."
The incident, which the emails alleged to have taken place on March 5, was witnessed by another agent working in the processing center, who intervened to stop the situation from further progressing and reported it to the immediate supervisor.
The agent who reported the incident said in the emails that they had seen "several colleagues displaying poor behavior and management's failure to act," CNN summarized, adding that the reporting agent intervened brought the matter to one of the senior agents at the facility that day, but the senior agent did not immediately address the event.
In response to CNN's request for comment, CBP said their internal Office of Professional Responsibility was investigating the matter.
CBP has been under increased scrutiny in recent days after a bombshell investigative report in ProPublica uncovered the existence of a Border Patrol-linked Facebook group called "I'm 10:15" with 9,500 members who created posts mocking dead migrants and lodging racist and sexist slurs against Latina Democratic members of Congress, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Veronica Escobar.
On July 3, acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan tweeted that he had "directed an immediate investigation" into "disturbing & inexcusable social media activity that allegedly includes active Border Patrol personnel."
On Friday, CNN also reported on the existence of another secret Facebook group called "The Real CBP Nation" which currently contains around 1,000 members who allegedly shared offensive memes joking about separating migrant families and other racially offensive memes and jokes, although they were not able to independently verify how many members were active CBP personnel.
INSIDER emailed CBP for further comment and will update this story as necessary.
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