Oregon DMV employee's purported Facebook post suggests shooting immigrants at the U.S. border

(Twitter)

UPDATED 1:10 p.m.

An Oregon DMV worker has sparked an international firestorm — as well as an investigation from her employer — amid accusations that she advocated for shooting migrants arriving at the U.S. border.

Thousands of people are calling on the Oregon Department of Transportation to fire Lori McAllen, who was placed on leave Thursday, the agency said.

Her alleged remarks surfaced on Facebook as the backlash against the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents reached a fevered pitch this week.

"I personally think they should shoot them all at the border and call it good," McAllen purportedly wrote, according to screenshots of the post circulated by hundreds of people on Twitter. "It'll save us hard working AMERICAN'S billions of dollars on our taxes!! ;)"

The transportation department didn't name McAllen in a tweet announcing the leave, which is in place while the agency investigates.

McAllen, a Linn County resident, currently earns $2,883 a month as an full-time DMV employee, a position she's held for less than a year, the agency said. Screen captured photos from her Facebook page, since deleted, show her wearing an ODOT badge in an office setting.

The Oregon Department of Transportation called the remarks "offensive & abhorrent to the values of our agency," in a statement published Wednesday to Twitter. The agency's human resources department is now conducting an investigation into the Facebook post.

Dave Thompson, a transportation spokesman, said his department has received hundreds of phone calls from around the country in the last 24 hours about the post. The agency has also fielded thousands of angry comments online from people around the world, he said.

"This is as viral as anything I've ever seen," he said.

McAllen could not be reached for comment.

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
skavanaugh@oregonian.com
503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh

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