Two Border Patrol Chiefs Were Members of Offensive Facebook Group but Failed to Report Misconduct
Documents obtained by the Committee reveal that two high-ranking CBP officials were members of "I'm 10-15" and took no action to address offensive content posted to the group by CBP agents. Carla Provost served as Border Patrol chief from August 2018 until January 2020, after serving for over a year as the acting chief.[35] Chief Provost became a member of "I'm 10-15" in 2017.[36] Rodney Scott served as chief patrol agent for the San Diego Sector from 2016 until becoming acting deputy chief in 2019. Under the Trump Administration, Scott was named as Chief Provost's successor, and he served as Border Patrol chief from February 2020 to August 2021.[37] Chief Scott joined the Facebook group "a few years" prior to the investigation into his involvement in the group, which was initiated in 2019.[38]
President Trump described Chief Provost as "a friend," and both Chief Provost and Chief Scott appeared on numerous occasions alongside President Trump, including at events in support of President Trump's border wall.[39] Chiefs Provost and Scott did not report their participation or the content of "I'm 10-15" to OPR, CBP, or Border Patrol leadership prior to media reports in July 2019.
From left: Border Patrol Chiefs Carla Provost and Rodney Scott.[40]
Chief Provost reported that she used Facebook to "get an unfiltered gauge on how the rank and file employees of the USBP reacted to her statements," including interviews and congressional testimony.[41] CBP's internal investigation revealed that although Chief Provost did not post inappropriate content, she was active on Facebook and conducted searches on Facebook for "I'm 10-15" around the time Border Patrol agents posted explicit content. For example, the investigation revealed that Chief Provost accessed Facebook one day after Supervisory Border Patrol Agent #2 posted a photo depicting then-President Trump raping a Member of Congress.[42] According to the CBP investigative file, Chief Provost did not raise any concerns about activity on the "I'm 10-15" page. OPR found insufficient evidence to support administrative action against Chief Provost and closed her case.[43]
Chief Scott reported that the "I'm 10-15" Facebook group enabled him to communicate with the workforce, share public information, and "know what the workforce is talking about." During the CBP investigation, Chief Scott stated that on two occasions, he remembered seeing questionable content related to migrant arrest records but was unsure to which website the content was posted. He reported that he "did not think those instances rose to the level of reportable misconduct."[44] OPR found insufficient evidence to support administrative action against then-Acting Deputy Chief Scott.[45] Approximately three months after the case was closed, Scott was promoted to chief of Border Patrol.[46]
Multiple CBP employees investigated for their actions on "I'm 10-15" stated that the participation of Chief Provost, Acting Deputy Chief Scott, and other senior managers in the group gave them the impression that CBP leadership was aware of the group and the nature of its posts. For example, according to the CBP investigative report, Border Patrol Agent #1 told investigators that "if the BPA Chief was in the ‘I'm 10-15' Facebook group account then it must have been okay for him [Agent #1] to be in it."[47]
Chiefs Provost and Scott are members of the Senior Executive Service (SES). SES employees are key agency personnel and are responsible for their agencies' executive, managerial, supervisory, and policy functions. SES officials are required to model high standards of ethics for their workforce and demonstrate integrity.[48]
Other members of "I'm 10-15" included chief patrol agents, an executive assistant commissioner, and at least nine OPR investigators. None of those members faced disciplinary action for their involvement in the group.