U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) lead call for investigation into alleged racial profiling/harassment of U.S. Diplomats of  color at border crossings. (credit: menendez.senate.gov)

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.)  are leading a call on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) to open a formal investigation into allegations of racism, racial targeting, and harassment of U.S. government officials by Trump administration Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at U.S. border crossings.  Mendez and Booker are  joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)   The Senators’ letter follows the disturbing account of former U.S. diplomat Tianna Spears, who was subjected to an inexplicable amount of inspections, intimidation, and other forms of race-based harassment by CBP officers at the U.S.-Mexico border under the Trump administration. Ms. Spears, a Black woman stationed as a diplomatic officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was stopped at the U.S.-Mexico border for questioning and inspections approximately 25 times in a 6-month span. Despite repeatedly identifying herself as a U.S. government official and asking CBP why she was being subjected to additional layers of inspection without explanation, the incidents continued.

“Not only are these incidents unacceptable, they fly in the face of our American values of diversity, equality, and respect for fundamental civil rights,” the Senators wrote. “The vile legacy of racially profiling Americans simply based on their skin color, a quality they have no choice in whatsoever, has no place in our nation’s present nor our future.”

 African American Diplomat Alleges Racial Harassment At U.S. Borders

Credit: Linkedin/  Tianna Spears is a former American diplomat who worked at the US consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico,  across the border from El Paso, Texas  USA

Spears alleges she was racially profiled by US border officials, who pulled her over at least 25 times for extensive questioning and car inspections over a six-month period last year despite being the holder of a coveted diplomatic passport.

“As soon as I started crossing the border regularly, I experienced this harassment. I was threatened. I was constantly asked if I was really a US citizen. They questioned if I stole my car, if my car was a rental. They accused me of being a liar, a drug dealer. Every time I told them I worked as a US diplomat, they laughed at me. They told me they didn’t believe me. It was just harassment and bullying on a racial level.”

-Tianna Spears

In highlighting the State Department’s and CBP’s failure to guarantee a workplace environment free from discrimination and politicization, the U.S. Senators underscored that the unwarranted attacks and harassment of professional civil and foreign servants is corrosive for our diplomacy and damaging to our democracy.

In a column for Politico, Ms. Spears wrote:

“The harassment I received at the border began to affect me emotionally and physically. I developed a stutter. I could not look people in the eye. I was extremely on edge all the time…How did I arrive to a career as a U.S. diplomat, only to be bullied and harassed by U.S. officials at the port of entry of a country I was born in and working for?”

Spears Resigns From Her Dream Job At State Department After Unrelenting Racial Harassment 

Spears claimed  her supervisors at the U.S. consulate did nothing to help after she reported the incidents.  “After weeks of writing letters, meetings, and emails to management, I was transferred to Mexico City on a temporary assignment and then reassigned permanently. I developed a stutter. I could not look people in the eye. I was extremely on edge all the time and my hair began to fall out in chunks from the harassment and stress. I gave up and cut all my hair off. My voice shook when I spoke. The simple thought of driving would make my hands perspire and my heart race.”   Spears resigned from her State Department job and her dream of a long career serving her country in the Foreign Service came crashing down on her.   But Spears made it clear she strongly believes that she was “forced out” due to the on-going harassment and stress. 

“According to the American Academy of Diplomats, an association of former U.S. ambassadors and senior foreign affairs government officials, this issue is not new; problems range from CBP officers not accepting standard diplomatic documentation to engaging in repeatedly hostile questioning and delays of Black and Hispanic diplomatic officers,” the Senators added, referencing accounts from Black diplomats who experienced border harassment but were too afraid of jeopardizing their careers to make formal complaints. “We cannot afford to lose the best and brightest public servants our country has to offer to incidents that betray our American values. Agents responsible for this behavior must be held fully accountable and the practice of forcing minority diplomatic officials to bear the pernicious consequences of racial misconduct of other government officials must stop.”

Upsurge In Number of Diplomatic Professionals Harassed Out Of Working for U.S. Government Under Trump Administration

Under the Trump administration, there has been an upsurge in the number of diplomatic and development professionals — many of whom have served across Democratic and Republican administrations — who have been targeted, smeared, harassed, actively denied promotions, and ultimately pushed out of working for the U.S. government.