A letter signed by 33 House Democrats was submitted Thursday night to Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan demanding the resignation of U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost.
The appeal was signed by Ayana Pressley (Mass.), Susan Wild (Penn.), Karen Bass (Calif.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Madeleine Dean (Penn.), Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Nanette Diaz Barragan (Calif.), Madeleine Dean (Penn.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Dwight Evans (Penn.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Sylvia Garcia (Texas), Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), Deb Haaland (N.M.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Andy Levin (Mich.), Alan Lowenthal (Calif.), Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.), Tom Malinowski (N.J.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), Frank Pallone (N.J.), Donald Payne Jr. (N.J.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Bobby Rush (Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Darren Soto (Fla.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Juan Vargas (Calif.), Marc Veasey (Texas), Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.).
The letter stated, in part:
Ms. Provost was a willing participant in a secret Facebook group used by employees of her agency to share [contemptible] and atrocious commentary that stokes racist and xenophobic tropes that have no place in private, much less in public service. The Facebook group, originally known as “I’m 10-15,” generated content that joked about migrant deaths and throwing burritos at Members of Congress, and even went so far as to make sexually violent and threatening statements about female members of Congress who came to the border to inspect the conditions at detention centers. We worry this content impugns the character of the U.S. Border Patrol as a whole.
The letter presented that since Provost was responsible for disciplining her own employees, she should be held equally responsible for stepping down as a promise of accountability. The signatories demanded her immediate resignation.