CBP Suspended 43 Employees for Facebook Misconduct

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. The deciding official offered 15 abeyance agreements and entered into last chance agreements with three Border Patrol agents.[20]

Figure 3: Proposed and Final Employee Suspensions[21]

c figure 1

The following agents are among those who were suspended and then permitted to return to work in positions of power over migrants:
  • Border Patrol Agent #3 posted obscene and lewd images on "I'm 10-15," which included an explicit graphic and comments about a Member of Congress. The Discipline Review Board recommended removal—a decision upheld by the deciding official.[22] The National Border Patrol Council invoked arbitration, and ultimately Border Patrol Agent #3 received a 60-day suspension and was awarded back pay, including interest and other benefits, for each day the agent had been removed from service beyond the 60-day suspension period. Border Patrol Agent #3 returned to duty in April 2021.

Agent 3

  • Supervisory Border Patrol Agent #4 posted an internal video of CBP's Tactical Unit that showed a group of migrants under pursuit, including a migrant fleeing and falling off a cliff to their death. In addition, the agent posted an explicit and offensive comment referring to a Member of Congress, writing, "FTP," which he explained meant "fuck the puta." The Discipline Review Board proposed removing Supervisory Border Patrol Agent #4 from federal service. The deciding official reduced the discipline to a 30-day suspension.

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  • Border Patrol Agent #5 is a firearms instructor and works at border checkpoints. The Agent referred to migrants as "ignorant" on "I'm 10-15" and made explicit and offensive comments about a Member of Congress at a CBP muster meeting about "I'm 10-15."[23] Although the Discipline Review Board recommended removal, the deciding official ordered a 14-day suspension and offered an abeyance agreement to further reduce the discipline to a seven-day suspension. However, Border Patrol Agent # 5 refused the abeyance agreement and served the 14-day suspension. The National Border Patrol Council invoked arbitration on behalf of Border Patrol Agent #5. Following the suspension, the agent resumed working with migrants. The final outcome is still pending.

Agent 5

  • Border Patrol Agent #6 took a picture with a personal cell phone of an agency record that contained personally identifiable information of a migrant in custody at his border station and posted it on "I'm 10-15" without authorization. The Discipline Review Board recommended removal. Border Patrol Agent #6 signed an abeyance agreement offered by the deciding official, which reduced the penalty to a five-day suspension and two-year probationary period.

Agent 6

  • Intelligence Border Patrol Agent #7 was suspended for one day for posting offensive and homophobic comments including a statement that "these children arent [sic] going to separate themselves." The Discipline Review Board recommended a three-day suspension, but the deciding official reduced the suspension to a single day.

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Next.

Back to findings.

Back to report home.

Endnotes.

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