President Joe Biden promised that there “will be consequences” for the mounted Border Patrol agents who appeared to threaten Haitian migrants as they tried to re-enter an impromptu refugee camp along Texas’ southern border.
“I promise you: those people will pay,” Biden said on Friday at The White House. The day before, his administration prohibited Border Patrol agents’ use of horses in Del Rio, Texas, where thousands of Haitians are waiting with the hope of entering the U.S.
Earlier this week, photos and video emerged of Border Patrol agents on horseback grabbing, threatening, and cursing at barefoot migrants carrying food back to the camp. The agents appeared to brandish horse reigns in a threatening manner. The Department of Homeland Security has launched an investigation.
“It’s horrible what you saw,” Biden said. “It’s an embarrassment. It’s beyond an embarrassment. It’s dangerous, it’s wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It’s simply not who we are.”
Asked if he took responsibility for the disturbing events at the border, Biden responded, “Of course I take responsibly. I’m President.”
Democrats spent years lambasting the Trump administration for its stringent border policies, and Biden promised a more humane approach when he took office.
In recent days, his administration has rounded up thousands of the decamped Haitians and sent them back to their home country, which is reeling from a series of crises. Others have been allowed to stay in the U.S. while they await immigration hearings.
The New York Times reports:
Still the deportations are a stark example of how Mr. Biden — who declared on Feb. 2 that his goal was to “undo the moral and national shame of the previous administration” — is deploying some of the most aggressive approaches to immigration put in place by Mr. Trump over the past four years.
Having failed in his attempts to build a more “humane” set of immigration laws, Mr. Biden has reacted in a way that few of his supporters expected. In case after case, he has shown a willingness to use tough measures.