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:

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong in the Central District of California previously ordered the federal government in January to expedite imaging the personal cell phones of more than 800 agents involved in controversial immigration raids in Los Angeles in 2025.

Judge Frimpong imposed a fine of $500 per day on the federal government until it complies with the order to turn over phones as part of discovery and reimburse plaintiffs’ attorneys for the legal costs of getting the records.

Attorneys for DHS admitted in court in June that the agency had not provided the records. They told the judge they were processing the government devices at a rate of three phones every two weeks, which plaintiffs noted would take nearly four years to complete.

So continues the federal judiciary’s rebukes of this administration’s lawless behavior. And the potential revelation of more racist texts sent by federal agents should prompt outrage, though it would not exactly come as a surprise.

DHS has openly promoted white supremacist propaganda, and ICE — with its largely masked workforce — has garnered comparisons to the Ku Klux Klan from historians, legal experts and at least one federal judge (a judge appointed by Ronald Reagan, I might add).

Earlier this year, I wrote about GOP backlash to immigrant detention centers being built in conservative areas across the country, and I mentioned how the “excesses of illiberalism” can be tough to reckon with when seen up close. Some people may have voted for Trump knowing he would lead a fundamentally racist administration, yet still feel queasy when confronted with examples of that racism.

We’ve seen various instances of people who voted for Trump in 2024 expressing worry and regret after experiencing his immigration crusade personally or witnessing it play out. Polling data has shown his handling of immigration to be broadly unpopular. And it stands to reason that any additional racist texts would make the crackdown even more unappealing to the public.

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