Latina Border Patrol officer sends social media into meltdown

A female Border Patrol officer has caused quite a stir on Twitter, after a photo of her providing security for Vice President Mike Pence during his recent border visit surfaced online.

The photo captured the agent standing outside a holding cell, and quickly went viral.

Twitter users were largely in agreement that the officer was particularly attractive, dubbing her "#IceBae".

"Holy s**t! #IceBae is real and she fine AF! WTF?! I think I'm coming down with a case of undocumentation! [sic]" one user wrote.

"#IceBae could detain me for however long she wants," another wrote.

"Okay not gonna lie politics aside you gotta admit #IceBae is hot," wrote a third.

On Monday, a Twitter account belonging to Kiara Cervantes claimed to be that of the Border Patrol officer in question. She referred to the commotion being made over the recent photo in a post on Twitter.

"Soooo it’s crazy.... but here I am," Cervantes wrote. "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!"

She also tweeted a clip to prove that she was, in fact, the officer that everyone had been raving about, writing: "It’s me — I’m a Customs officer based in Texas and yeah, I don’t know what else to say."

Take a look at the aforementioned clip below:

Some Twitter users took the opportunity to commend Cervantes for her work:

Others, however, weren't too happy that the attention Ice Bae was receiving was detracting from the ongoing ordeal at detention centres on the southern US border, which is costing American taxpayers a phenomenal $4.5 million a day.

"Feeling cute might separate families at the concentration camp later," one user wrote sarcastically.

"My job is so hectic at this moment but I am grateful," Cervantes later tweeted, ignoring the outraged commenters. "I love protecting my country! ????❤️ And I love my supporters!"

In response to a Twitter user who branded Cervantes as "literal sc*m" - adding that she was Hispanic and that her parents would "disown" her - Cervantes wrote: "I think that’s really rude and naive of you to say. You have no idea who my parents are and no idea what goes into my job on a daily basis… before speaking on something you know nothing about…. DONT. Regardless I’m blessed and thankful for the career I have [sic]."

In another tweet, she explained: "I can’t agree with concentration camps. But… this station, in particular, isn’t meant to be a holding facility hence the overpopulation of aliens. We are doing our best but some people won’t ever understand. They don’t know the daily of what my job consists of [sic]."

This article originally appeared on vt.co