Border Agent Reassigned in Probe of Taunts

The U.S. Border Patrol said Tuesday that it has reassigned a supervisory agent after reporters saw an officer calling out abusive taunts over his patrol vehicle’s public address system to hundreds of migrants gathered along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Michael D. Gregg, a patrol spokesman, said the agent, who had supervisory responsibilities on Sunday evening when the incident was observed, would perform administrative duties while the office of inspector general, an oversight body within the Department of Justice, conducts an investigation. Gregg declined to identify the agent or to say whether he is the one suspected of the taunting.

“We’ve done some preliminary inquiries that have indicated that some of the allegations may be factual,” said Gregg, who declined to comment further.

A Times reporter and two other U.S. journalists were present along the border Sunday evening as the agent used his vehicle’s amplification system to harangue immigrants for more than an hour, referring to Mexicans as “whores” and using other insulting terms. The migrants called the agent abusive names in return.

Such use of the public address system would violate patrol guidelines, Gregg said.

The exchange took place at a known crossing point for illegal aliens headed into the United States.