Court holds DHS in contempt, accusing it of withholding phone data
Court filings have already highlighted instances of federal agents using racist slurs in exchanges with one another while waging President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown.
A recent filing revealed uses of the words “wetback” and “tonk.” The latter has been used in reference to the sound of an immigrant being hit on the head with a flashlight or baton, though its exact origins are unclear.
And on Tuesday, a federal judge held the Trump administration in contempt of court, accusing it of slow-walking the release of more files that could reveal other instances of racism.
The federal government — and thus, American taxpayers — will have to shell out $500 a day until the Department of Homeland Security complies with a court order requiring it to expedite its process for handing over communications shared via the personal phones of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
The order comes in a lawsuit accusing the federal government of violating civil rights during an immigration operation in California last year. As The Associated Press reported:
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.
