Border Patrol chief expresses support for agents falsely accused of whipping Haitian immigrants
Brady Knox
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The chief of the Border Patrol publicly defended agents accused of whipping Haitian immigrants in 2021.
Testifying at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday in Texas, Chief Raul Ortiz spoke out in defense of the agents.
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“As a former horse patrol agent, I can attest to how vital horse patrol units are in responding to remote and harsh locations. Last year’s mass migration event in Del Rio was chaotic. We had over 20,000 people show up in one place in a short period of time. Even so, we were able to provide food, water, and medical care without a single loss of life,” he said, Fox News reported.
“I remain proud of the work of our horse patrol units and what we did in Del Rio. As the chief of the Border Patrol, I am ultimately responsible for all operational decisions. To that point and as a senior field commander during that response, I accepted and continue to accept full responsibility for the actions taken,” he added.
Border Patrol agents came under fire in September 2021 after several mounted agents intercepted a group of mostly Haitian immigrants trying to cross the border into the United States in Del Rio, Texas. Biden administration officials, including the president, claimed that the photos of the encounter showed that the agents had whipped the immigrants, leading to a media outcry.
“To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped — it’s outrageous,” President Joe Biden said at the time, mimicking a whipping motion. “I promise you: Those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences.”
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“Our nation saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are. We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said around the same time.
A subsequent investigation exonerated the agents of the allegations, but some minor charges were leveled.