Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called for a total decapitation of the leadership at the government’s border agency, saying Wednesday that only a full housecleaning can set things right.
That would mean ousting acting Customs and Border Protection Director Mark Morgan — who’s only been at the post for a couple of weeks, as well as others that the New York Democrat didn’t name.
“Too much of CBP has been an out-of-control agency for too long, and it must be reined in immediately,” Mr. Schumer said.
He said Mr. Morgan was “too callous” to recent revelations that some agents belong to a secret Facebook group that shared offensive messages and questioned the motives of congressional Democrats.
He also blamed the agency for not doing more to improve conditions for illegal immigrants at the border, who have overwhelmed the system this year, sending facilities to four times their capacity and sparking near-riots of migrants being held.
Those conditions were detailed in an inspector general’s report Tuesday.
The Facebook group was revealed in a report by Pro Publica.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, the previous CBP commissioner, said he’s ordered an investigation and said Border Patrol agents who broke the rules will be “held accountable.”
“These statements are completely unacceptable,” he said.
CBP also says it’s making headway on improving conditions, particularly with the $4.6 billion in emergency money President Trump signed into law this week.
But the agency says to really solve things will require Congress to change the laws and reduce the incentives that have drawn record numbers of illegal immigrant families to jump the border this year.
Democrats don’t want to alter those laws, arguing they provide important safety valves for the relatively few cases that are actual refugees fleeing rough conditions.
Instead, Mr. Schumer blamed “a toxic culture” at CBP.
The issue has bled over into presidential politics, with several of Democrats’ 2020 White House hopefuls signing a letter Wednesday, along with other Democratic senators, asking the inspector general to look into the Facebook group.
“In response to a news story about a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died in May while in CBP custody, group members posted an image of Elmo saying ‘Oh well’ while another stated ‘If he dies, he dies,’ ” the group wrote. “Not only is such indifference towards the death of several human beings inhumane, it is especially troubling when said by those individuals responsible for serving the public at our border.”...