A female Border Patrol officer has become a viral sensation after she was photographed during Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to the border last Friday.
The woman, per Fox News Channel , has been dubbed “ICE Bae,” and has drawn amorous comments from pro-Trump Twitter. However, the woman works for the Customs and Border Protection- not Immigration and Customs Enforcement- and it turns out she’s a Democrat.
Per The New York Post the woman, seen in uniform near the vice president over the weekend, is named Kiara Cervantes. She’s 26-years-old, lives in Texas, and is a registered Democrat.
Cervantes appeared on Twitter this week and addressed the attention.
“Soooo it’s crazy…. but here I am,” she tweeted this week. “I’m hearing something about a viral picture. I would like to say i was just doing my job.. providing security for the visit of @ VP . It was an honor and I take a lot of pride in my job!”
Twitter user @VibeHi appeared to be the first to notice Cervantes, writing, per Fox News , “I think I’m coming down with a case of undocumentation.”
While the woman’s picture went viral among the pro-Trump Internet originally, others were less complimentary, noting that she is an active agent involved with Trump Administration detention policy.
https://twitter.com/SonOfDadAndMom/status/1150967508352020484
“ # IceBae is such a cute name for someone who puts black and brown children in cages,” Twitter user Rev Rell tweeted about Cervantes.
“Families are trapped in literal concentration camps and there are mountains of video/photo/written evidence of this, and the one thing y’all took from it was that a f**king ICE guard was attractive,” Twitter user Massive 2341 said Tuesday.
Vice President Pence, per CNN , visited two Border Patrol facilities in Texas Friday, becoming the highest-ranking member of the Trump Administration to visit the facilities. In widely disseminated photographs, Pence appeared in a dark suit, looking at a large group of men in a crowded cell.
In this visit to Donna Processing Facility and the McAllen Border Patrol Station, Pence was accompanied by several lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. After the visit, the Vice President asked Congress to authorize more funds for support to Customs and Border Protection. Pence, per CNN, did not directly interact with any of the men who were housed at the facility.
Two days after Pence’s visit, President Trump announced ICE raids in several U.S. cities, although it’s unclear to what degree those raids were carried out as planned.