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U.S. NEWS Thursday 25 July 2019

Border Patrol boss joined Facebook page to read staff posts

By ASTRID GALVAN Custom and Border Protec- Border Patrol custody since
Associated Press tion’s Office of Professional December.
PHOENIX (AP) — Responsibility, adding that Some committee mem-
The head of the U.S. Bor- she very rarely used her bers criticized Provost,
der Patrol said Wednesday Facebook account and questioning whether the
that she joined a Face- only did so to stay in touch Border Patrol has an agen-
book group whose mem- with friends and colleagues cy-wide culture of abusive
bers mocked migrants and who live out of town. behavior.
lawmakers so she could Provost said she once com- “A few bad apples are not
read what her personnel mented in the group on a representative of the orga-
thought about her, and post about a question from nization,” Provost respond-
said she knew little about the TV show “Jeopardy” ed.
the group. because her agents were “You’ve got a long way
Chief Carla Provost said talking about her in that to go now to rebuild your
during a congressional post, Provost said. She was reputation to the average
subcommittee hearing the subject of the Jeopar- person in this country,”
in Washington that she dy question. said Rep. Dutch Ruppers- U.S. Border Patrol chief Carla Provost testifies before a House
logged on to Facebook “I didn’t even know at the berger, a Democrat from Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in
very rarely and that she time what group I was on,” Maryland.q Washington, Wednesday, July 24, 2019.
immediately reported her she said. Associated Press
membership in the group Provost said she joined the
to an oversight division of secret group in 2017 at the
U.S. Customs and Border invitation of a colleague
Protection after she real- who told her agents were
ized she was a member. discussing her perfor-
Provost earlier this month mance in her role at the
had issued a statement time of acting chief.
condemning the posts She said she would search
without saying that she was her name in Facebook and
a member. read posts about herself
Sixty-two current and eight without noticing whether
former Border Patrol em- the posts were in any spe-
ployees are being inves- cific group.
tigated for their role in “I am as outraged as every-
the “I’m 10-15” Facebook one else when it comes to
group, where agents ques- the statements that were
tioned the authenticity of made on that page,” Pro-
images of a migrant father vost said.
and child dead in a river. The congressional hearing
They also posted crude also focused on Border Pa-
and doctored images of trol funding and the ongo-
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio- ing high number of families
Cortez purporting to per- and children arriving at the
form a sex act on President U.S.-Mexico border.
Donald Trump. The Border Patrol is deal-
Reports later revealed Pro- ing with a massive increase
vost was a member of the in the number of families
group, although she did and children who cross into
not confirm those reports the U.S. without parents or
until her congressional tes- legal guardians, resulting
timony. in strained resources and
She said during the hear- dangerously overcrowded
ing that she handed over border detention facilities.
her login and password to Five children have died in