Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas condemned the tactics that mounted Border Patrol agents took against Haitian migrants attempting to cross from Mexico into Texas.
Pictures emerged on Monday of agents on horseback appearing to use the reins or lariats to strike at migrants and block their paths with the animals. Some Democrats and the media accused agents of “whipping” migrants, although this has been denied by Border Patrol.
TEXAS TROOPERS CREDITED WITH RETAKING CONTROL OF DEL RIO BORDER
“I was horrified by what I saw. We will let the investigation run its course, but the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly,” Mayorkas told CNN. “One cannot weaponize a horse to aggressively attack a child. That is unacceptable. That is not what our policies and our training require. … We will not tolerate mistreatment.”
DHS Sec. Mayorkas on troubling viral videos of Border Patrol being aggressive with Haitian migrants:
“One cannot weaponize a horse to aggressively attack a child. That is unacceptable. That is not what our policies and our training require … We will not tolerate mistreatment.” pic.twitter.com/fpkNrDv90w
— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2021
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and White House press secretary Jen Psaki condemned the actions.
“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” Psaki said. “I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate,” she added.
A senior federal law enforcement official at the border defended the agent’s actions to the Washington Examiner, saying agents on horseback are highly trained. In this incident, the agent was acting in a way to keep migrants from continuing forward, said the official. The agent performed a “twirl of the reins” to keep people back from the horse for their safety, and no one was whipped.
For all you Twitter warriors out there: these are NOT whips. And no, Border Patrol agents are NOT “whipping” people.
They are REINS… Stay with us here, like a steering wheel is used to drive a car, the reins are used to “drive” the horse.
Thanks for coming to our TED talk. pic.twitter.com/r0n2kXHqvy
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) September 21, 2021
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The images and footage come amid the worsening immigration crisis in the border city of Del Rio, Texas, where last week tens of thousands of mostly Haitian migrant workers began gathering under a bridge seeking asylum in the United States. DHS sent flights of Haitians back to their home country, and Mayorkas affirmed that the border is not open for illegal immigration.
