A top Customs and Border Protection official “quietly resigned” from the agency last fall after more than two decades of service. Tony Barker, described by The New York Times “as the acting chief of the law enforcement operations directorate for the Border Patrol,” had apparently been in consideration for a major post when he quickly resigned in mid-October.
Numerous reports now make clear the reasoning for the abrupt resignation. Both The New York Times and NBC News reveal Barker was reportedly under investigation for multiple allegations of misconduct against several women at the agency.
RELATED STORY: Border Patrol serial killer found guilty of killing four women, sentenced to life in prison
One employee reportedly had a consensual relationship with Barker, according to the NBC News report. But when she attempted to end the relationship, he “allegedly threatened to tell others that she had illegally issued contracts if she did not perform sexual favors.” That report says that numerous other women have made similar allegations since, and that Barker remains under investigation by the department's Office of Personal Responsibility.
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The New York Times said it “has not corroborated NBC’s reporting,” but did report that four sources said Barker quickly left the agency after finding out “internal investigators were reviewing his online communications with women, including subordinates, that took place on government equipment.” Notably, a local chapter of the Border Patrol union said in a social media post responding to the allegations against Barker that abuses by upper management have been rampant. While a CBP spokesperson cited privacy laws in declining to offer specifics into the case, he claimed that the agency does “not tolerate misconduct within our ranks.”
“When we discover any alleged or potential misconduct, we immediately refer it for investigation and cooperate fully with any criminal or administrative investigations,” spokesperson Justin Long said in a statement reported by The New York Times.
Is that so? The House Oversight Committee said in 2020 that CBP actively obstructed its probe into border agents who were part of the racist, misogynistic “I’m 10-15” Facebook group where members mocked the deaths of migrant children and targeted two Latina lawmakers, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Veronica Escobar. Escobar later noted that she never got investigation results from CBP, even though she was personally targeted. CBP also went to great lengths to protect its own, shielding agents who faced serious discipline for their participation in the vulgar group, the House Oversight Committee’s report revealed. Heads should have rolled—yet only four of the nearly 140 agents investigated were ultimately fired.
“The high-ranking male officers tend to get away with these crimes,” former Senior Border Patrol agent turned whistleblower Jenn Budd told The New York Times. Budd was raped while training at its academy in the 1990s. In 2021, now-former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott made a judge later described as a “classic” rape threat to Budd over social media, mocking her claims and instructing her to “lean back,” close her eyes, “and just enjoy the show.” Scott had left his post earlier that year after he was asked to resign by the Biden administration.
Barker “is not alone & most who prey on female agents are allowed to retire w/zero accountability & full benefits,” Budd tweeted. “This needs an independent investigation.” Per The New York Times’ reporting, former CBP commissioner Chris Magnus said he’d held multiple meetings with women at the agency, who called the reporting process “pointless.”
“Too many of these guys just sort of stick together and protect each other,” Magnus said in the report. “It’s a culture of a wink and a nod.” Were there meetings with men at the agency? Unclear, but Magnus was himself forced out last fall, very likely due to internal hostilities over the reforms he’d attempted within the agency. Like he’d unintentionally predicted, too many of these guys just sort of stick together and protect each other.
It seems like in the rare times there has been some accountability, it's only come after the most heinous of acts. Late last year, a former Border Patrol agent was found guilty of killing four women. The serial killer targeted sex workers he frequented, and those he believed no one would care were missing because they were sex workers. He was caught only because his fifth victim escaped and alerted authorities. "Yes, to others she is a hero,” the woman’s aunt said, “but it doesn't take away the fact that she was also a victim in this tragedy. She is a survivor, but she is going through serious trauma.”
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