The fuss began amid the Haitian migrant crisis in Del Rio in September, where more than 10,000 migrants were gathered underneath the area’s International Bridge. As the situation aggravated, agents went there on horseback.
Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News Digital in an interview that the situation on the ground in Del Rio was a “powder keg” as migrants had just discovered that they were, in fact, likely to be removed rather than allowed into the U.S.
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“These agents were specifically sent to that location to stop more people from crossing, that was what they were sent there to do,” Judd said. “This was under the orders of their management which of course is under the control of Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas.”
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On September 19, images began to spread on Twitter of the agents trying to block migrants from entering the U.S., and in one case, grabbing a migrants’ shirt. The scandal advanced as some media outlets and Democratic lawmakers misidentified the agents’ split reins, which they use and twist to control and direct the horse -- and falsely claimed the agents were using “whips” on the migrants.
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“With basic knowledge and two brain cells, anyone knows those agents use split reins. They do use them as a whip, on their horses,” one agent told Fox News at the time. “This helps get a quicker response from the horse to move out when needed, especially when the horse may be hesitant with groups of people or other animals.”
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Nevertheless, that didn’t stop top Democrats from weighing in, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decrying “images of inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol—including the use of whips.”
A photographer who snapped images in question said that “nobody saw a Border Patrol agent whipping,” and Mayorkas originally supported the agents alongside Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
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By Tuesday, his message shifted, telling CNN that the images “troubled me profoundly” before adding that “one cannot weaponize a horse” against migrants. Vice President Kamala Harris also weighed in, saying she wanted an investigation and was “deeply troubled” about the alleged treatment of migrants.
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Quickly afterward, Mayorkas announced that horses would no longer be used in Del Rio, and the agents were returned to desk duty pending an investigation into their conduct. He swore that the investigation would be “completed in days, if not weeks.”
That Friday, President Biden ramped the pressure on the besieged agents by repeating the false claims of whipping and previewed what he hoped would be the outcome of the investigation.