‘Horrible to watch’
White House decries image of border agent whipping at Haitian migrant
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said footage that appeared to show a U.S. Border Patrol agent whipping a Haitian migrant was ‘horrible to watch.’
Images of a U.S. border agent on horseback appearing to whip a Haitian migrant were “horrible to watch” and unacceptable, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday.
“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said at a press briefing.
A Reuters video showed a Border Patrol agent using what the news agency described as a lariat to whip at a Haitian migrant trying to enter the United States from Mexico. The El Paso Times reported Monday that an agent “swung his whip menacingly, charging his horse toward the men in the river.”
The reports and photographs of the scene set off a wave of criticism on social media. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who came to the United States as a refugee from Somalia, condemned the tactic as “human rights abuses, plain and simple.”
Psaki said she needed more information on the incident before she could say whether any action would be taken against the border agent.
“We just saw this footage. It’s horrible to watch. I just have to get more information on it,” she said.
“I can’t imagine the scenario where that would be appropriate. I’m certainly not suggesting that, but we’ve just seen the footage earlier this morning,” she said.
Psaki said agents
“should never be able to do it again.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said they would fully investigate the matter, but pointed out that the border agent may have been reining in his horse rather than trying to whip anyone.
“You are assuming facts that have not yet been determined,” Mayorkas said at a press briefing when asked whether the tactics were humane. He said long reins are used to maintain control of the horses, but he promised “we will investigate the facts.”
Ortiz said the horse units will play an integral part in the security response.
“Operating in a river marine environment on horseback is a difficult situation and trying to maintain control of those horses so we do not get in a position where we injure a migrant as they’re trying to make that treacherous trek across that river is probably more important than anything and I’m pretty sure and confident
that’s exactly what was happening,” Ortiz said. “But we will certainly look into the matter.”
The Department of Homeland Security said Saturday that it was deploying 400 additional agents to the Del Rio sector after thousands of migrants from Haiti crossed into the United States through Mexico.
The surge in migration come after weeks of tumult in the Caribbean country following the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and an August earthquake which killed more than 2,000 people.
The Biden administration has discouraged Haitians from making the journey and accelerated removal flights that will return the migrants back to Haiti.
The images on Monday provoked strong reactions from the Haitian community in the United States.
Guerline Jozef, co-founder and president of Haitian Bridge Alliance, called on the Biden administration to halt deportations in the wake of the footage.
“The life of the Black boy, the Black man, that is being whipped by this officer, his life matters. So we must continue to fight. We are asking and urging the Biden administration to immediately stop all deportations to Haiti, in view of what’s happening. The world is watching America,” Jozef said.
Joseph Makhandal Champagne, an immigration lawyer and vice president of Haitian Diaspora United for Haiti, called the photographs “disturbing and dehumanizing.”
Champagne, who visited Del Rio Monday, said the incident was indicative of the broader treatment of Haitian migrants under multiple administrations.
“They have been dealt an uneven hand because of the foreign policy objectives of the United States, not just under this administration alone but previous ones as well. This has been ongoing from one administration to the next and must be ceased,” he said.
The bulk of the deportations are taking place under Title 42 of the U.S. Code, which allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants based on the potential spread of disease. Former President Donald Trump used the code to deport migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic, a policy that has been continued by the Biden administration.
“Our borders are not open, and people should not make the dangerous journey,” Mayorkas said Monday.
Psaki repeatedly cited the Title 42 policy, but she also asserted the administration’s commitment to ensuring humane treatment of migrants arriving at the border before their deportation.
“Any circumstance where individuals are not treated humanely — whether they’re coming to our border or not — is not in line with the Biden administration policies,” she said.