FBI: Trouble on the Taco Circuit

The FBI’s sorry record in race relations was reaffirmed in September when a federal court in El Paso found that the bureau had systematically assigned Hispanic agents to low-level duties known as the “taco circuit.” The court warned that it might impose reforms on the agency’s promotions system. Now FBI supervisors may be making matters worse: lawyers for 20 of the 311 agents involved in the suit went to court last week to charge that a number of those involved in the case had been removed from their duties or harassed in other ways.

Bernardo Perez, now assistant head of the FBI’s El Paso office, accused his superior of vowing to “get those” who testified in the lawsuit. Last week’s filing, which also requests a court order barring further retaliation, says agents have been warned by superiors not to discuss the case with the press. It charges that the head of the bureau’s Los Angeles office has asked FBI investigators to analyze the October issue of California magazine for possible administrative action against three agents who provided information — including Perez, who appears on the cover.

Says a spokesman for FBI Director William Sessions: “Any intimidation or retaliation would be both illegal and intolerable and would result in an FBI inquiry.”