U.S. Border Patrol agents freely used the derogatory slur “tonk” to describe unauthorized migrants on government computers, at times while joking about killing or beating them, according to emails and text messages disclosed to HuffPost under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Make sure to change the country of citizenship to match your tonk, ...” one agent wrote in a May 21, 2019, email explaining a new data collection tool.But the slur often appeared alongside expressions of raw contempt for the people whom Border Patrol officers police, which disproportionately included Central Americans attempting to gain entry to the United States on humanitarian grounds.
The El Paso Sector watch commander forwarded a request on March 4, 2019, for donations of clothing and toys for unauthorized migrant children and families traveling together. An unidentified official in the email chain noted that some agents “have performed some of these kind gestures” in the past. In another exchange, an agent shared a story from the right-wing news website The Blaze describing how a New York City housing discrimination policy could lead to fines of $250,000 for calling people “illegal immigrants.”Few outside the U.S. Border Patrol were familiar with the slur “tonk” until former President Donald Trump took office. His controversial first pick to head U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, got his start in the Border Patrol and used the slur in Washington.
Border Patrol Freedom Of Information Act
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