Image of agent on horseback reminder of U.S. immigration mistreatment, Haitians say
MIAMI — The image of a U.S. border agent on horseback wielding what appears to be a rope or reins while chasing a Haitian migrant on the U.S.-Mexico border first appeared on Rulx JeanBart’s telephone as a WhatsApp video being shared by outraged fellow Haitians.
Jean-Bart, a former director of what was once the largest Haitian rights organization who now lives in Miramar, said the image instantly took him back several decades.
It didn’t matter if the agent was holding a lariat or horse reins or if the migrant was actually struck or not. The picture was enough.
“It reminded me of our history here in the United States. There has always been this mistreatment of Haitians, treating them differently; keeping them away from the U.S. at any cost,” said JeanBart, calling the image “painful and revolting.”
“Whether it was under (the Duvalier regime), or any other president,” he said, “it has always been the same story.”
The video of a mounted U.S.
Border Patrol agent chasing a Haitian migrant, who falls back into the Rio Grande, was taken on the U.S. side of the border in Del Rio, Texas, and has appeared on U.S. news sites and on social media since early Monday.
It has sparked outrage across communities, and condemnation of the Biden administration even by Democrats.
“The images of this unconscionable attack by United States border agents on helpless Haitian migrants have an uncanny resemblance to the photos in our history books that show the truth of how Black people were treated in this country in centuries past,” said U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who has long been an outspoken support of Haitians.
Waters said she is “outraged by the reprehensible behavior of these border agents who seem to lack humanity,” and “extremely disappointed in the Biden Administration for its willingness to continue the racist application of immigration policies and tactics utilized by Donald Trump, the most xenophobic and dangerous president in our nation’s history.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, said President Joe Biden had seen the footage and photo and believes they “are horrific.”
“He believes this does not represent who we are as a country and does not represent the positions of the Biden-Harris administration,” she added.
Haitian refugees first began arriving on U.S. shores by boat in the 1970s, pushed by their homeland’s political turmoil and the repressive regime of the nearly three-decade Duvalier dictatorship. But as they arrived in Florida, often in rickety boats, they were often jailed, denied asylum and branded as economic immigrants. They were swiftly expelled by Republican and Democrat administrations alike that refused to recognize the repression in Haiti.
More than four decades later, many of those early refugees who did manage to stay are today the parents and grandparents of American-born offspring who are doctors, lawyers and other professionals. Some have even been elected to political office. But the struggle of Haitians continue, they say, as U.S. immigration policy continues to show a double-standard.
“This is not the first time immigration, border patrol agents and the police have unleashed horses and dogs on us,” said Marleine Bastien, recalling her days as a young activist demanding justice and equal treatment for Haitians in front of the Krome Detention Center in South Miami-Dade County and the Haitian Refugee Center, where Jean-Bart worked, in Little Haiti.
“Let it be clear, they did it in front of the Krome Detention Center, in front of the Haitian Refugee Center on 54th Street,” she added. “The U.S. has a long history of abusing Haitian refugees and trampling on their rights of due process.”
A reminder of historic grave abuses, the video has also reminded Black Americans and others of slave patrols, when enslaved Africans were chased by men on horses as they tried to run away from their white masters.
Bastien, founder of the Family Action Network Movement, where many newly arrived refugees turn to for help, said Haitian community leaders in Miami are not only demanding a swift investigation into the incident, they want the agent fired.
“This is abuse. This border patrol officer needs to be arrested,” she said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is Black and is in charge of addressing the root causes of migration for the Biden administration, said Tuesday what she saw on the video is “horrible” and added she fully supports the investigation launched by Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Human beings should never be treated that way. And I’m deeply troubled about it,” Harris said, adding that she plans to speak to Mayorkas.
Mayorkas, who in an interview with CNN refrained from saying whether what happened was mistreatment or abuse, on Tuesday told a U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs that an investigation has begun at his direction by the Office of Professional Responsibility within the DHS’s Customs and Border Protection.
“I directed that the Office of Professional Responsibility be present on site in Del Rio 24/7 to ensure that the conduct of our personnel adheres to our policies, to our training, and to our values,” said Mayorkas, adding that he was “horrified to see the images.”
During the testimony, Mayorkas said what he saw during a visit Monday under the Del Rio International Bridge, where an estimated 15,000 Haitian migrants had gathered, was “the acute vulnerability of the Haitian population, the predominantly Haitian population, and I cannot overstate how difficult that is to see. We are speaking about vulnerable individuals in tragic circumstances.”