Joe Biden, DHS Chief Upset by 'Horrible' Videos of Border Patrol Dealing With Haitian Migrants
19:24 GMT 21.09.2021 (Updated: 13:24 GMT 06.08.2022)
© REUTERS / GO NAKAMURAMigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. after obtaining food and supplies in Mexico as the U.S. Border Patrol agents monitor on a horse on the U.S. side of the bank near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S., in Del Rio Texas, U.S., where they wait to be processed, as seen from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, September 20, 2021.
![Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. after obtaining food and supplies in Mexico as the U.S. Border Patrol agents monitor on a horse on the U.S. side of the bank near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S., in Del Rio Texas, U.S., where they wait to be processed, as seen from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, September 20, 2021. Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. cross the Rio Grande river into the U.S. after obtaining food and supplies in Mexico as the U.S. Border Patrol agents monitor on a horse on the U.S. side of the bank near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S., in Del Rio Texas, U.S., where they wait to be processed, as seen from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, September 20, 2021. - Sputnik International, 1920, 21.09.2021](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e5/09/15/1089279680_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_2577f2488b295a2a084b4b014eb184c9.jpg)
© REUTERS / GO NAKAMURA
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US Vice President Kamala Harris also said she fully supports an investigation into the matter, saying “human beings should never be treated that way.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, head of the US Department of Homeland Security, (DHS) has announced that he's “horrified” by images of Border Patrol agents on horseback who were filmed chasing and whipping Haitian migrants at the US border with Mexico.
“Any mistreatment or abuse of a migrant is unacceptable,” Mayorkas said in an interview with CNN. “The pictures that I've observed troubled me profoundly.”
He claimed, however, that the Border Patrol agents were not using whips.
"To ensure control of the horse, long reins are used, but we are going to investigate the facts to ensure that the situation is as we understand it to be, and if it's anything different we will respond accordingly," Mayorkas told reporters.
The DHS said in a statement that the Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility is looking into the incident, according to AP.
Meanwhile, US VP Harris declared that she fully supports a "thorough investigation into what is going on there."
"Human beings should never be treated that way," she remarked. "And I'm deeply troubled about it."
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also said that US President Joe Biden called the videos of the Border Patrol agents’ actions “horrific and horrible."
"I don't know anyone who could watch that video and not have that emotion," she said during her appearance on CBS Mornings.
Over 6,000 Haitians and other migrants were removed by US authorities from an encampment at Del Rio, Texas, AP reports.
A number of social media have blasted the Border Patrol agents' actions, with some calling to “fix the border patrol."
Horrifying. Unacceptable. MAGA already trying to demonize the asylum seekers. Where do we turn for a better, more humane way forward? @USCISDirector @USCIS @USCongress @WhiteHouse
— Lauren Milicov (@laurmili1) September 20, 2021
OMG this is horrible. Fix the border patrol.
— Kay "Not a Cat" Too (@kaytooesq) September 20, 2021
@POTUS @VP
Seems like the U.S. went 200 years backwards if we're whipping Haitians.
— K-Fro (@KFroBeyotch) September 20, 2021