[V]ermont’s congressional delegation has roundly criticized Border Patrol and immigration enforcement leaders for their treatment of migrant children and for allowing employees to be part of a secret social media group where members shared derogatory comments about migrants and mocked Latino members of Congress.
The Vermont lawmakers have also spoken out against the Trump administration’s immigration policy as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers began raids in major cities over the weekend.
ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, first broke the story in early July about the Border Patrol’s private Facebook group.
“The reports about this secret Facebook group are shocking. Those who posted demeaning and vile comments should not be wearing the uniform of the CBP,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., in a statement at the time.
“Department of Homeland Security leaders must come before Congress to explain how they will hold these employees and their managers accountable and ensure that the agency’s culture does not invite or condone this despicable behavior,” Welch said.
ProPublica found that members of the social media group — roughly 9,500 current and former Border Patrol agents — sent messages about hurling burritos at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and other members of Congress visiting a detention facility in Texas.
There were also doctored images shared in the group that depicted Ocasio-Cortez engaging in oral sex with a detained migrant and discussions of journalists falsely reporting on migrants dying along the southern border.
On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on the Facebook group and the Trump administration’s child separation policy. Both Welch and Ocasio-Cortez are members of the committee
Welch had planned on asking the witnesses questions about these topics on Friday, but was unable to do so because he had to take part in 16 floor votes before boarding a flight back to Vermont in the early afternoon, according to his office.
However, the oversight committee plans to hold another hearing this week to further question Department of Homeland Security leadership, and Welch’s office says he will interrogate witnesses at that time. The hearing has not yet been scheduled at this time.
Last week’s hearing came two days before immigration enforcement agents started carrying out coordinated raids looking for undocumented people with active deportation orders in major cities throughout the country.
In response to the decision to carry out the immigration enforcement operation, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., along with Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., sent a letter to DHS demanding to know if separating family members had been approved as part of the immigration raids.
Leahy’s office said Monday that neither DHS nor immigration enforcement officials had responded to the letter or to questions about separating children from their parents.
Still no response from DHS or ICE about whether they’ve authorized separating parents from their children as part of their planned mass raids. Unfortunately it appears the administration is planning on, or stumbling into, Family Separation 2.0. This is premeditated cruelty. https://t.co/lrBcbVQymn
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) July 14, 2019
“Unfortunately it appears the administration is planning on, or stumbling into, Family Separation 2.0. This is premeditated cruelty,” Leahy wrote on Twitter.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also took to Twitter over the weekend to denounce the president’s immigration policy.
“We must oppose Mr. Trump’s nightmarish mass-deportation plans. We must stop family separation, reunite families that have been separated, and eliminate private detention facilities,” the Vermont senator wrote.
We must oppose Mr. Trump’s nightmarish mass-deportation plans. We must stop family separation, reunite families that have been separated, and eliminate private detention facilities. Know your rights. Conozca sus derechos. https://t.co/sNKTOyhB0B
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 13, 2019
Sanders has also called for an investigation into the actions of border agents in the private Facebook group.
“Racist and sexist behavior on the part of those who wear a uniform of the United States is unacceptable,” wrote Sanders. “The DHS must investigate and take strong action against those found guilty of this vulgar behavior.”
James Duff Lyall, the executive director of the Vermont American Civil Liberties Union, who worked on border issues when he served with the Arizona ACLU, said it is unlikely border and immigration enforcement agencies will be reined in by Congress.
“If past practice is any indication we can expect little accountability for these border agents,” Lyall said. “One congressional hearing is probably not going to do the job.”
Lyall was sharply critical of DHS’s approach to immigration enforcement.
“It is past time for members of Congress and the American public to stop pretending this is an agency that upholds American laws and values,” Lyall said.
The president’s controversial immigration policy has generated broad criticism from many in Vermont.
In Burlington in the first week of July, hundreds of people marched down Church Street demanding the closure of child detention centers at the southern border as well as the release of three undocumented farm workers who were recently detained in Vermont.
In Bristol’s July 4th parade, there was also a group of about 50 people protesting the detention of children along the U.S.-Mexico border and the presence of immigration enforcement officers in Vermont.
