Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas corrected a reporter who asserted that Border Patrol agents whipped migrants during a press briefing on Thursday.
TheGrio reporter April Ryan insisted that agents whipped migrants from Haiti in September 2021, allegations that an internal investigation ultimately debunked.
The incident took place when thousands of Haitian migrants crossed into Del Rio, Texas, overwhelming the small border town.
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“Sir, the southern border is not just Mexicans, it’s Haitians, it’s Africans, as we’ve seen particularly with that issue of Haitians being whipped with reins of horses,” Ryan said.
“Well, let me just correct you right there because as the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur,” Mayorkas said.
“I’m sorry, I saw it differently. They were whipping something from the horse, reins from the horse. Maybe the video or the picture was fake, what I saw was totally different story,” Ryan said.
“I’m going to leave you as corrected,” Mayorkas said.
The incident grew chaotic as horseback border agents attempted to control the crowds and were later found in a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) internal investigation to have “twirled” their reins in violation of CBP guidance. However, no evidence was found that they whipped anyone.
When the images emerged, critics claimed the agents were whipping the illegals. Biden was among the first to criticize his own immigration officers, who were battling mightily to contain the crisis he unleashed with his open-borders policies.
As The Free Press reported at the time, Biden said, “It’s outrageous. I promise you; those people will pay. … There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment. It’s beyond an embarrassment.”
Yet the only embarrassment may be Biden’s.
The Washington Examiner reported at the time that Department of Homeland Security officials said the results of the investigation Biden promised “may never be released.” Why?
“Because it makes the administration look terrible,” an unidentified DHS official told the Examiner.
“They essentially convicted the mounted agents based upon a lie, which the investigation after 120 days would surely have revealed.”
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