White House wants more info on ‘horrific’ footage of Border Patrol agents confronting Haitian immigrants

By Jason Hoffman, Priscilla Alvarez, Geneva Sands and Paul LeBlanc | CNN

White House property caput Jen Psaki said Monday that the White House is seeking much accusation connected the “horrific” viral videos that look to amusement US Border Patrol agents connected horseback confronting Haitian refugees astatine the US border.

“I’ve seen immoderate of the footage. I don’t person the afloat context. I can’t ideate what discourse would marque that appropriate, but I don’t person further details, and surely I don’t person further context,” Psaki said astatine the White House property briefing. “I don’t deliberation anyone seeing that footage would deliberation it was acceptable oregon appropriate.”

Videos taken by Al Jazeera and Reuters look to amusement instrumentality enforcement officers connected horseback utilizing assertive tactics erstwhile confronting migrants, including authorities swinging agelong reins adjacent migrants who crossed the US-Mexico borderline adjacent Del Rio, Texas.

Reuters video shows the officers astatine the water’s edge, twirling the agelong reins arsenic migrants crossed the borderline astatine the US shoreline of the Rio Grande. At 1 constituent successful the video, the officer’s equine astir charges into 1 of the migrants, who falls backmost and into the water.

In the Al Jazeera video, a instrumentality enforcement serviceman connected horseback is seen swirling the agelong reins adjacent a radical of migrants. Shortly beforehand, different idiosyncratic connected horseback is heard yelling astatine the migrants, saying, “You usage your women? This is wherefore your country’s sh*t, due to the fact that you usage your women for this.”

Although the profanity is redacted successful the video report, Al Jazeera English newsman John Holman published the afloat punctuation — helium attributed it to an unnamed Border Patrol cause — on his Twitter.

Then, arsenic the instrumentality enforcement officers effort to corral the migrants, 1 of the officers appears to whirl the equine reins adjacent 1 of the migrants.

The country played retired adjacent a crowded makeshift encampment successful Del Rio, wherever thousands of migrants — including families, large women and babies — person gathered nether the Del Rio International Bridge. They slumber successful the dirt, surrounded by increasing piles of garbage, exposed to the elements and without overmuch nutrient and water, successful hopes of being processed by the overwhelmed US Border Patrol.

Pressed by reporters Monday for effect to the footage, Psaki called it “horrible to watch.”

“I can’t ideate what the script is wherever that would beryllium appropriate, I’m surely not suggesting that, but we’ve conscionable seen the footage earlier this morning,” she said. Asked if the agents seen successful the footage should beryllium fired for their actions successful dealing with migrants, Psaki said: “Of people they should ne'er beryllium capable to bash it again.”

“I don’t cognize what the circumstances would be. It’s evidently horrific, the footage. I don’t person immoderate much accusation connected it, truthful fto maine task to bash that and we’ll spot if there’s much to convey,” she added.

Border Patrol agents connected horseback effort to halt Haitian migrants from entering an encampment connected the banks of the Rio Grande adjacent the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge successful Del Rio, Texas, connected Sept. 19, 2021.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the usage of equine patrols but said the section would analyse the situation. Speaking astatine a quality league adjacent the border, Mayorkas said that, according to US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, agelong reins are utilized to guarantee power of the horse.

“[B]ut we are going to analyse the facts to guarantee that the concern is arsenic we recognize it to be, and if it’s thing antithetic we volition respond accordingly,” helium said.

Speaking alongside Mayorkas, Ortiz said equine patrol units play an integral portion successful the information effect successful Del Rio. “As you know, we person astir fractional of this country locked down, and we’re moving connected trying to get the different broadside of the span wholly locked down,” helium said.

Ortiz said helium had asked that the equine patrol portion bash an appraisal connected Sunday to find retired if immoderate individuals were successful distress and to supply accusation and quality connected the smuggling organization’s activities successful and astir the river.

“As was witnessed successful the video and immoderate of the pictures, the migrants were going back-and-forth. We bash not cognize who are the smugglers oregon who are the migrants, truthful it’s important that those Border Patrol agents support a level of information for some themselves and for the migrant population,” helium said.

Ortiz, who said helium has ridden horses for respective years, besides pointed to the trouble of operating successful a riverine situation connected horseback.

Maintaining power of the horses “so we bash not get successful a presumption wherever we injure a migrant arsenic they’re trying to marque that treacherous trek crossed that stream is astir apt much important than anything,” helium said. “And I’m beauteous definite and assured that that’s precisely what was happening, but we volition surely look into the matter, to marque definite that we bash not person immoderate enactment that could beryllium construed arsenic a effect to a instrumentality enforcement effort that is unacceptable.”

When asked astir whether whirling the agelong reins astir migrants was a humane mode to dainty them, Mayorkas responded by saying, “You’re assuming facts that person not yet been determined.”

Many of the Haitians presently astatine the borderline are believed to person been surviving successful South America aft the 2010 earthquake successful Haiti, but the toll of the coronavirus pandemic connected the portion fueled migration to the US confederate border.

Haiti is besides inactive reeling from an earthquake successful August that resulted successful much than 2,000 deaths and thousands much injuries, arsenic good arsenic the assassination of President Jovenel Moise successful July. For those reasons, much than 50 Democratic lawmakers urged the Biden medication successful a letter earlier this period to halt deportations to the country.