An attorney employed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allegedly made “racist, bigoted, xenophobic, hateful, harassing and dishonest” posts on an X account where he tried to hide his identity, according to a legal complaint filed against him.
James Rodden — who, as of at least Wednesday, was employed by ICE as assistant chief counsel, functioning as a prosecutor — allegedly identified himself on the social media platform as Mr. X with the username @GlomarResponder, according to the complaint, which was made by J. Whitfield Larrabee, an attorney in Massachusetts.
The Texas Observer claims it has identified Rodden as the operator of the @GlomarResponder X account and published an article on Wednesday titled “ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account.” The publication said it identified Rodden “based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.”
The article was included in Larrabee’s complaint and appears to be the basis for his legal filing, which doesn’t include any independent evidence that Rodden is responsible for the posts made on the @GlomarResponder X account. CBS News has not independently confirmed that Rodden is connected to the account.
The posts on the X account, which has over 17,000 followers, included comments made over the last year such as “America is a white country, founded by whites,'” “‘Migrants’ are all criminals,” and “I’m a fascist,” the complaint says.
The posts “directly” relate to Rodden’s work as an attorney representing the United States in removal proceedings before judges, the complaint says. Those in such proceedings are often vulnerable immigrants, refugees and political asylum applicants, and Rodden, as an assistant chief legal counsel, “plays a key role in the immigration justice system” and has a “powerful voice in Court.”
“When the representative of the United States in our immigration courts is motivated by bigotry, racism, xenophobia, anti-immigrant bias and hatred of immigrants, this seriously interferes with the administration of justice and undermines the integrity of our legal system,” the complaint argues.
The complaint was filed with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Washington, D.C., where Rodden was licensed to practice, and with the Office of Professional Responsibility for ICE, Larrabee said. It calls for an investigation and for Rodden to be suspended from practicing law.
CBS News has reached out to ICE multiple times for comment and did not receive a response as of Friday afternoon.
According to the Observer, an ICE spokesperson said in an email to the publication that the agency would not comment on the “substance” of its article “pending further investigation, to include whether the owner of the referenced ‘X’ account is a current employee.”
“Notwithstanding, ICE holds its employees to the highest standards of professionalism and takes seriously all allegations of inappropriate conduct,” the email reportedly said.
CBS News Texas reached out to Rodden at a phone number and email address listed as his in public records.
The Observer said Rodden did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment, and that a man reached at a phone number associated with Rodden declined to confirm his identity and hung up.
“When approached in a public hallway outside the Dallas immigration court and asked to confirm receipt of the emailed requests, Rodden said only to ‘call [his] press office,'” the Observer wrote.
Rep. Marc Veasey, who represents Dallas Fort-Worth in Congress, said in a post on Thursday on the platform: “James Rodden has exposed himself as a white supremacist while serving as ICE’s Assistant Chief Counsel. I am demanding answers, sending a letter of inquiry, and calling for a full investigation now.”
Brian New contributed to this report.
Sarah Lynch Baldwin is an associate managing editor of CBSNews.com. She oversees “CBS Mornings” digital content, helps lead national and breaking news coverage and shapes editorial workflows.
