CBP Agents Allegedly Shamed Honduran Migrant With ‘I Like Men’ Sign

Not long after a ProPublica report revealed a secret racist Facebook group in which Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents joked about migrant deaths, per The Inquisitr, a new report from Newsweek suggests that CBP agents attempted to shame a Honduran migrant by forcing him to hold a sign that said “Me gustan los hombre(s),” which means “I like men.”

The report comes from an El Paso, Texas, migrant processing center. An agent from the center claims that he saw another agent give the sign to the migrant and force him to walk in front of other migrants while holding it up. According to the agent who wrote the report, two other CBP agents were laughing and ignored his comments about the unprofessionalism of the situation. Although the migrant was reportedly upset and the agent reported the incident, the senior official who heard the report allegedly did nothing.

CBP agents have been under fire recently for their treatment of migrants and the conditions of migrant facilities. ProPublica’s investigation found that the discreet “I’m 10-15” Facebook group for current and former CBP agents contained posts joking about migrant deaths and calling Latina lawmakers “scum buckets” and “ho*s.”

“These comments and memes are extremely troubling. They’re clearly xenophobic and sexist,” said Daniel Martinez, a sociologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who studies the border.

Martinez also said the posts reflect what “seems to be a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants within CBP. This isn’t just a few rogue agents or ‘bad apples.'”

A border patrol agent allegedly made a male migrant in his care carry around a sign that said "I like men" as punishment while co-workers laughedhttps://t.co/DiostNtWrn

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 5, 2019

Progressive Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echoed Martinez and blasted the group as part of a “violent culture.”

But The Inquisitr reported that Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, wrote an op-ed for Fox News in which he accused Ocasio-Cortez of attempting to “dehumanize” CBP agents.

“I am disgusted by Ocasio-Cortez’s lies and her determination to needlessly and dangerously inflame public sentiment regarding the crisis on our southern border by abandoning facts and making wild and unsupported accusations.”

Judd claims that the 29-year-old’s comparison of migrant camps to concentration camps is an attempt to parallel CBP agents with the Nazi officers that worked during the Holocaust. He also accused Ocasio-Cortez of pushing propaganda instead of facts.

Judd also blamed the parents and family members of migrants for the hardships that they and their children face and attacked Ocasio-Cortez for allegedly using the struggles of immigrants for political purposes.

“Ocasio-Cortez is playing politics with illegal immigrants. She seeks to raise her profile higher in the media and portray herself as the champion of the detainees – when she is in fact working against their best interests.”