US stops using horses in border ops after outcry over Haiti migrants
- Critics say images of mounted agents waving their reins are reminiscent cowboys herding livestock or slave owners using whips
- The announcement came after the US special envoy to Haiti resigned in protest in a letter blasting the Biden administration for deporting hundreds of migrants
The US Border Patrol halted using horses in migrant operations around Del Rio, Texas, the White House said on Thursday, after embarrassing photographs suggested mistreatment of Haitian border-crossers.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “conveyed to civil rights leaders earlier this morning that we would no longer be using horses in Del Rio”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
The move came after media photographs and video footage on Monday showed Border Patrol horsemen appearing to use their mounts to deter undocumented migrants from crossing into the United States from Mexico, and seemingly waving their reins threateningly.
Critics said the images were reminiscent of both cowboys attempting to herd livestock and times in history when horse-mounted police, prison guards or slave owners used whips against black Americans.
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Mayorkas, who oversees the Border Patrol, said on Wednesday that the images “do not reflect who we are as a country, nor do they reflect who the United States Customs and Border Protection is.”
He told a congressional hearing that he had ordered an investigation into what happened and said the officers in charge had been moved to other duties in the meantime.