October 2021

CBP's failure to act sooner to impose discipline on employees after senior leaders became aware of the "I'm 10-15" Facebook group, the lack of agency-specific disciplinary guidelines, and the inconsistent punishments it applied all weakened CBP's ability to hold agents accountable for their misconduct.

Prior to media reports regarding misconduct on "I'm 10-15," CBP provided limited guidance and no training to employees on the use of social media. On April 9, 2015, CBP released guidance that incorporated the Office of Government Ethics' legal advisory, The Standards of Conduct as Applied to Personal Social Media Use.

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.

The Committee obtained a list of thirteen "I'm 10-15" cases that CBP investigated between August 2016 and November 2018.[25] Despite the agency's longstanding knowledge of employee misconduct on the "I'm 10-15" group and other Facebook groups, CBP did not take sufficient disciplinary measures or other action to enforce its social media policies until it faced scrutiny during the summer of 2019.[

Documents show that ten employees announced their retirement during the investigative process, including two Border Patrol agents whom the Discipline Review Board proposed removing.

Documents reviewed by the Committee show that of the 12 letters of reprimand, ten were the result of reductions in discipline, including one proposed removal and nine proposed suspensions.

Of the 60 CBP employees for whom the deciding official substantiated findings of misconduct, records obtained by the Committee show that 43 employees received suspensions without pay. Of those, 41 received suspensions ranging from one to 30 days, with most suspended for five days or fewer. The remaining two agents had their recommended removals mitigated by arbitrators to a suspension of 60 days and time served.

Of the 24 removals proposed by the CBP Discipline Review Board, CBP ultimately removed only two employees. Twenty proposed removals were reduced to less severe penalties. Eighteen removals were converted to suspensions without pay, one was reduced to a letter of reprimand, and one was reduced to an "oral admonishment." Two agents retired shortly after the Discipline Review Board proposed their removal.