Border Patrol agents involved in a federal takeover of Los Angeles operations used derogatory slurs targeting Latinos during patrol and arrest work, according to body camera footage and text messages detailed in court filings.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the incidents occurred under the command of former Border Patrol leader Greg Bovino, known for overseeing aggressive crackdowns against migrants and protesters.
Court documents reference agents using terms like “tonk” and “wet.”
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, defined “tonk” as a Border Patrol slur referring to the sound of a metal flashlight used to strike migrants, and “wet,” as a shortened racial slur for Latinos.
Body camera footage captured an agent saying, “There was a guy, I’m pretty sure he’s wet; he was just sitting in that minivan,” after a Hollywood Home Depot raid.
Additionally, text messages showed agents discussing “tonks everywhere selling food.”
The filings seek to bar agents from making stops based on racial profiling.
Bovino was retired after a Minneapolis operation resulted in the two fatal ICE shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Since then, he has continued spreading misinformation about immigrants in the U.S.
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