US border patrol faces probe; White House bashes asylum ruling

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: The acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security has ordered an investigation into reports that border patrol agents have been posting offensive anti-immigrant comments and threats against lawmakers on a private Facebook group. The move was announced amid mounting criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of a humanitarian crisis along the US-Mexico border, with lawmakers and government investigators warning of dangerous conditions in migrant detention centres. “Reporting this week highlighted disturbing & inexcusable social media activity that allegedly includes active Border Patrol personnel,” acting DHS head Kevin McAleenan said on Twitter on Wednesday, calling the reported comments “completely unacceptable.” He said any employee found to have “compromised the public’s trust in our law enforcement mission will be held accountable.” The Facebook posts, first reported by the non-profit news site ProPublica included jokes about the deaths of migrants and sexually explicit content referring to US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who was highly critical of the detention facilities after a tour this week. The White House also criticised a ruling by a federal judge in Seattle who on Tuesday blocked an administration move to keep thousands of asylum seekers in custody while they pursued their cases. The American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant rights groups sued the government in April after Attorney General William Barr concluded that asylum seekers who entered the country illegally were not eligible for bond. US District Judge Marsha Pechman on Tuesday ruled that people detained after entering the country to seek asylum were entitled to bond hearings. The record surge of mostly Central American families at the US southwestern border has begun to ease after tougher enforcement efforts in Mexico, although the situation remains dire, according to Mexican and US officials. The US government’s internal watchdog on Tuesday said migrant-holding centres in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley were dangerously overcrowded, publishing graphic pictures of cells holding twice as many people as they were built for. Mexico’s government, citing unpublished US data, said migrant arrests at the border fell 30 per cent in June from the previous month after it started a migration crackdown. — Reuters