Ten Employees Avoided Discipline by Retiring Before CBP Took Corrective Action
Documents show that ten employees announced their retirement during the investigative process, including two Border Patrol agents whom the Discipline Review Board proposed removing. For example, Border Patrol Agent #9 posted among the most explicit and offensive graphics and comments on "I'm 10-15," including posting a widely circulated picture of a migrant father and son who drowned and referring to them as "floaters." The Discipline Review Board proposed removing the agent. However, CBP closed its investigation into Border Patrol Agent #9 when the agent filed for retirement, and the Office of Personnel Management approved a disability retirement for the agent. Disability retirement entitles Border Patrol Agent #9 to a disability annuity, Social Security benefits, and other payments from qualified federal retirement plans.[24]
Border Patrol Agent #9 had previously been disciplined multiple times for other misconduct, including two separate three-day suspensions in 2009 and a letter of reprimand in 2018 for making sexually inappropriate gestures to a fellow Border Patrol agent. Border Patrol Agent #9 faced no discipline for misconduct on "I'm 10-15."
