Vice President Kamala Harris declined to say in an interview whether the Biden administration would halt deportation flights for Haitian migrants arriving at the southern border and allow them to apply for asylum.
“We have to do more in terms of supporting the Haitians who are returning to the island,” Harris told The View on Friday. “Our administration feels strongly about that.” Harris gave a winding answer that didn’t address whether the administration would halt deportations or provide asylum status to the Haitian nationals arriving at the southern border, however.
Deportation flights have returned thousands of Haitian nationals to their home country over the last week after more than 14,000 migrants, mainly from Haiti, migrated illegally to the United States before settling in a temporary encampment under the Del Rio International Bridge.
Harris said that 100,000 Haitian migrants had been offered temporary protected status, which is granted to immigrants from countries suffering disaster or war. Most Haitians arriving in Del Rio have been living in Brazil, Chile, and other South and Central American countries for several years and are ineligible, however.
Asked about images of Border Patrol agents on horseback rounding up migrants, Harris likened the practice to abuses that have “been used against African Americans during times of slavery.”
She said the pictures evoke “some of the worst moments of our history,” calling them “deeply troubling.”
“I was outraged,” she said. “There needs to be consequences and accountability.”
Biden and Harris have backed an investigation amid top Democrats’ claims that the agents used reins as whips against the migrants.
On Friday, Biden told reporters at the White House that the agents “will pay.”
“There will be consequences,” he added.
The White House said this week that the Border Patrol had temporarily halted the use of horse patrols in the Del Rio area. The officers involved have been assigned administrative duties while the investigation is underway.
Democrats have slammed the administration’s policies toward Haitian nationals, arguing that returning them to their home country places them at significant risk. Haiti is still reeling following an earthquake that killed 2,000 people and injured thousands more, as well as the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July.
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Biden’s point-person to Haiti, former Special Envoy Daniel Foote, resigned with a letter on Wednesday that called the administration’s actions “counterproductive” and “inhumane.” Foote, a career foreign service officer, was appointed to the role in July.
Harris’s interview was delayed nearly an hour after a co-host of The View and a guest host tested positive for the coronavirus moments before the vice president was set to join. The interview took place remotely.
