U.S. Border Patrol personnel are generating funds by vending medallions that mark the previous year’s surge of migration control “operations” nationwide, alongside other goods. The proceeds are intended for charitable groups that designate Border Patrol facilities as their address in tax documentation. At least two of these organizations possess specific U.S. Customs and Border Protection email accounts.
The obverse side of one available medallion displays, “NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2025,” along with the initialisms for U.S. Border Patrol and the acronym for “fuck around and find out”—an expression first brought to prominence by the extremist right-wing organization the Proud Boys and subsequently utilized by numerous Trump administration figures. In its center, the medallion features a gas mask, a crowd control smoke device, and a less-lethal projectile weapon. On the reverse, the medallion appears to showcase a likeness of Border Patrol’s now retired senior commander, Gregory Bovino, with his arm raised in a salute, accompanied by the inscription “COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU!” It enumerates seven cities, several of which actually experienced governmental intervention spikes in 2025: Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Phoenix, Portland, Charlotte, and Atlanta.
The medallion is marketed by Willcox Morale Welfare and Recreation, a charitable entity that the IRS lately granted tax-exempt status under the Biden presidency and whose registered address in tax documents corresponds to that of the Willcox Border Patrol Station in Arizona. A query for a statement directed to Willcox MWR’s assigned CBP email address received no response.
Personnel of the Department of Homeland Security, the oversight department for Border Patrol, are permitted to establish independent, charitable staff groups within DHS, provided that they get officially acknowledged by the agency and adhere to specific regulations. According to DHS guidelines, sanctioned entities can solicit donations on governmental premises and produce goods with the department’s insignia and emblems–but they must obtain prior authorization from the agency.
Willcox MWR is merely one among numerous organizations nationwide that serve Border Patrol agents and designate themselves as MWRs, an allusion to the U.S. military’s “morale, welfare and recreation” initiatives. These groups typically organize festive gatherings and farewell celebrations, and sometimes collect funds for the relatives of personnel experiencing difficulties, including those facing unpaid leave during the ongoing closure.
Many MWRs also offer bespoke discs known as “challenge coins” that honor particular units or occurrences. While any individual, including CBP alumni, can create and vend coins, present departmental personnel are prohibited from utilizing state assets to sell ones that use the department’s emblems or insignia without permission, or ones that the agency deems unsuitable or unbecoming.
CBP offered no statement about its connection with Willcox MWR or any other charitable entity referenced in this article, nor regarding whether the agency had approved the “North American Tour” coin design, prior to printing.
Beneath Willcox MWR’s Facebook entry about the “North American Tour” coin, someone named Juan Diego remarked, “Sign up SDC BK5 MWR for 10.”
“Send us an electronic message,” someone overseeing the Willcox MWR account responded, providing what seemed to be an assigned cbp.dhs.gov email address for the group.
SDC BK5 MWR, also an accredited charitable organization, displays a location on its website that is identical to that of a government facility in Chula Vista, California. It states on its webpage that it was founded by San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents and offers bespoke goods “intended to generate capital for esprit de corps and aid initiatives.”
Diego failed to reply to an inquiry for a statement.
The SDC BK5 MWR webpage features entries for over 200 different items apart from the North American Tour coin. One of those offerings was a “Chicago Midway Blitz” challenge coin in the form of a respirator that also functions as a bottle opener. Inscribed along the perimeter of the coin are the designations of various cities and districts affected by DHS’s migration control escalation of the same name the previous autumn. Like the North American Tour coin, it displays the U.S. Border Patrol emblem and the initialism for “fuck around and find out.” Critics of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions in Illinois are displeased.