El Paso, July 3 (RHC)-- U.S. Customs and Border Protection has opened an investigation into social media posts by border agents belonging to a racist, xenophobic Facebook group.

The investigation follows the publication of a new piece in ProPublica uncovering the secret Facebook group "which has around 9,500 members" and in which current and former CBP employees post racist, homophobic, anti-immigrant and misogynistic content about migrants, as well as some lawmakers and other high-profile people.

One post contained a photoshopped image of Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being sexually assaulted by President Trump.  In another thread, members of the group made fun of a video of a man trying to carry a child through a rapid river in a plastic bag.  Someone commented, "At least it's already in a trash bag."  Asked by a reporter yesterday to respond to her depiction in the Facebook post, Congressmember Ocasio-Cortez said it was "indicative of the culture" -- she observed inside the migrant prison she had just visited, and said she did not feel safe around the officers.

Congressmember Joaquin Castro added that some CBP agents have "become desensitized to the point of being dangerous to the migrants in their care."  Posts were also uncovered that mocked the Salvadoran father and 23-month-young daughter who drowned last month while attempting to cross the Rio Grande to get to the U.S. border.

In more immigrant rights news, a coalition of human rights and other groups held "Close the Camps" demonstrations around the U.S. on Tuesday, calling on lawmakers to shut down immigrant jails, defund detention and deportation, and reunite separated families.