Josiah Heyman, director of the Center for Inter-American Border Studies at the University of El Paso, thinks the latter definition is more accurate based on what he said Border Patrol officers have told him in the past.
"It comes supposedly from the sound of a person´s head being hit by a flashlight," Heyman wrote in an email. "Their explanation. It is derogatory. Implies people against whom one exercises violent force. That is my interpretation but pretty clear."
Heyman doesn't believe the term "tonc" is an acronym that stands for something else.
Of course it doesn't, likely made up by higher ups. Line guys had to be LTAO over the 'breathless reporting'. Hardly derogatory since it applies to 'all' the illegal apprehensions. And despite what this soy kid thinks, they aren't all women children blah blah. Some of them fight the BP, the alternative is their .40 or vehicle AR or a flashlight. Most BP guys are greatly outnumbered by their apps. Most of the apps are repeats, they fight, they get their ass whupped and then no orange juice back at the station prior to their 'ride' to the POE. And next time they enter, they will be treated more roughly. Only reason their are very few shootings.