Appeals Court Tosses Immigrant’s Conviction Over Border Patrol Agents’ Secret Racist Facebook Group

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals conditionally vacated the 2020 illegal-entry conviction of Jaime Tovar-Durán, a Mexican citizen apprehended near Tecate, California, ruling that prosecutors failed to disclose evidence about Border Patrol agents who testified at trial and belonged to “I’m 10-15,” a secret Facebook group where agents posted racist content and mocked migrant deaths. Prosecutors initially said none of their witnesses were members, then disclosed shortly before trial that two of the three testifying agents were, saying they did not recall posting or reacting to content. The panel sent the case back to the district court to determine whether the government withheld evidence, with Judge Ana de Alba writing that the agents’ “activity on that page could constitute strong evidence of bias against noncitizens.” The group takes its name from the radio code agents use for detainees.