The White House is speaking out after images of Texas border patrol agents rounding up Haitian migrants on horseback began circulating on the internet.
After being asked if the use of horses and possibly whips in a country founded on slavery represented an “appropriate tactic,” White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, responded, “I have seen some of the footage. I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate.”
“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she added.
“Of course they should never be able to do it again,” Psaki added when asked if border agents should be fired or allowed to do it again. “I don’t know what the circumstances would be, it’s obviously horrific, the footage, I don’t have any more information on it so let me venture to do that and we’ll see if there’s more to convey.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the border patrol chief, Raul Ortiz, said they’d be looking into the agents’ action. However, they said they saw nothing apparently wrong based on the photos and video.
More than 10,000 migrants have camped out beneath the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, to open an asylum claim. Both U.S. and Mexican officials said that those in the camp would be deported back to Haiti.
