Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Secret Facebook Group Blasted By Top Border Officials: 'There Is Absolutely No Excuse For This Kind Of Inappropriate Behavior'
The New York Times: Top Border Officials Condemn ‘Highly Inappropriate’ Secret Facebook Group
Top officials in the agency overseeing border security condemned a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents that featured jokes about migrant deaths, obscene images of Hispanic lawmakers and threats to members of Congress as the lawmakers themselves on Tuesday amplified their criticism of the agency. (Kanno-Youngs, 7/2)
The Associated Press: AP Explains: How Facebook Handles Speech In 'Secret' Groups
U.S. Border Patrol agents are under fire for posting offensive messages in a "secret" Facebook group that included sexually explicit posts about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and dismissive references to the deaths of migrants in U.S. custody. The existence of that group was reported Monday by ProPublica. Prior to that, few people outside the group had ever heard of it. Facebook enforces complex guidelines against hate speech, abuse and other categories when it comes to users' posts to their friends or to the public. (7/3)
ProPublica: Civil Rights Groups Have Been Warning Facebook About Hate Speech In Secret Groups For Years
Facebook says its standards apply just as much in private groups as public posts, prohibiting most slurs and threats based on national origin, sex, race and immigration status. But dozens of hateful posts in a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents raise questions about how well if at all the company is policing disturbing postings and comments made outside of public view. (Tobin, 7/2)
Arizona Republic: Sen. Martha McSally Condemns Arizona Border Patrol Officers' Posts
Antolin Rolando Lopez-Aguilar was running. He had just crossed the border illegally near the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, and the sound of a Border Patrol F-150 was close behind him. He reached back and touched the hood of the moving vehicle, trying to push off from the truck that was chasing him. The truck accelerated again, knocking Lopez-Aguilar to the ground before grinding to a halt. Court documents filed in a federal case against the truck’s driver, Border Patrol Agent Matthew Bowen, allege the vehicle was inches from running Lopez-Aguilar over when it stopped. (Hinkle, 7/2)
In other news on the crisis —
The Associated Press: 'And Now We Are Alone': Extended Family Separated At Border
A 12-year-old boy entered the U.S. from Mexico with his brother and uncle, fleeing violence in Guatemala, but is now without them in a packed Texas border facility. Honduran sisters, 8 and 6, were taken from their grandmother when they arrived. An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy was separated from his aunt and cousin. (7/2)
The Washington Post: Toddler Who Died After Being Taken Into Custody At The Mexican Border Suffered Multiple Diseases
A Guatemalan toddler who spent several days in Border Patrol custody this spring died of complications related to “multiple intestinal and respiratory infectious diseases,” according to an El Paso County medical examiner’s office report issued Tuesday. Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, who was 2½ , died May 14 after several weeks in an El Paso hospital. (Moore and Sacchetti, 7/2)
CBS News: Del Rio, Texas: Border Patrol Searches For Missing 2-Year-Old Girl In Rio Grade Today
Divers are searching for a 2-year-old girl believed to have gone missing in the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. Agents from the Del Rio Border Patrol Station said a woman from Haiti told them Monday that she had lost her daughter, a national of Brazil, while crossing the river. (Linton, 7/2)
