Report finds 'unnecessary' force by border agents

WASHINGTON — US Border Patrol agents on horseback engaged in “unnecessary use of force” against non-threatening Haitian immigrants but didn't whip any with their reins “intentionally

or otherwise," according to a federal investigation of chaotic scenes along the Texas-Mexico border, last fall, that sparked widespread condemnation.

In a 511-page report released, Friday, Customs and Border Protection blamed a “lack of command control and communication” for mounted agents using their horses to forcibly block and move migrants during an influx of Haitians arriving, last September, at the US border outside Del Rio, Texas.

“We’re gonna learn from this incident and we’ll find a

way to do better,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said during a news conference announcing the report. “Not everyone’s going to like all the findings but the investigation was comprehensive and fair.”

Video and photos of the incident made it appear agents were whipping Haitians, which caused outrage among advocacy groups and civil rights leaders. The Biden administration promised a full investigation after many in the president's own party objected that such tactics with racial overtones were the kinds of policies the

US was supposed to be moving away from after years of hardline immigration tactics under President Donald Trump.

A former police chief, Magnus took over the nation’s largest law enforcement agency in December and is being watched closely for shepherding the ongoing investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, Friday, that “the organizational failures of policy, procedures, and training that the investigation identified were a disservice to the agents and the public they serve.”