US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused US border agents of conducting a program of “psychological warfare” against detained migrants who were told to drink water from toilets if they were thirsty.
The New York Democrat’s comments on Twitter came amid a report on Monday that border agents had used a secret Facebook group to share lewd posts about Ocasio-Cortez and at least one other Democratic lawmaker, as well as racist comments about migrants.
“Just left the 1st CBP facility. I see why CBP officers were being so physically & sexually threatening towards me. Officers were keeping women in cells w/ no water & had told them to drink out of the toilets,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, referring to US Customs and Border Protection.
Photo: AP / El Paso Times
US Representative Judy Chu also said on Twitter that migrants were told to drink from the toilet if they wanted water, while US Representative Madeleine Dean in a tweet called conditions “far worse than we ever could have imagined.”
The lawmakers were taking part in a delegation organized by the US Congressional Hispanic Caucus to El Paso and Clint, Texas, to investigate facilities used to detain undocumented immigrants.
Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter that she “forced” herself into a cell to speak to women, who described “their treatment at the hands of officers as ‘psychological warfare’ — waking them at odd hours for no reason, calling them wh*res, etc.”
Ocasio-Cortez was confronted by shouting supporters of US President Donald Trump during a televised news conference in Clint.
“No woman should ever be locked up in a pen when they have done no harm to another human being,” she said. “They should be given water and basic access to human rights.”
CBP said in a statement that it was opening an investigation into the Facebook group, which was first reported by the news organization ProPublica.
It reported that members of the group shared a post in which a photoshopped Trump is shown to force Ocasio-Cortez’s head toward his crotch and another illustration suggesting she engaged in oral sex with migrants.
“Today, US Customs and Border Protection was made aware of disturbing social media activity hosted on a private Facebook group that may include a number of CBP employees,” CBP Assistant Commissioner Matthew Klein said.
The US Department of Homeland Security’s inspector is beginning an investigation, he added.
The US Congress last week passed a US$4.5 billion emergency border funding bill aimed at improving conditions for migrants at the border.
US House of Representatives Democrats were unable to secure all the provisions they wanted to force Homeland Security to improve the conditions in their facilities, amid reports that children had been denied soap, toothpaste and clean diapers.
People held in five CBP detention centers in Texas were served an unhealthy menu, including frozen sandwiches, cold burritos and potato chips, according to government data reflecting descriptions from a nutritionist and two doctors.
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