A White House press conference was held Monday after disturbing images and video surfaced online in regards to the massive Haitian deportations in Texas over the weekend. The footage appeared to show Border Patrol agents using whips against Haitian migrants coming into the U.S. from Mexico. The White House called it inappropriate and “horrific.”
"I have seen some of the footage. I don't have the full context. I can't imagine what context would make that appropriate," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.”
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According to The Washington Post, photos captured by photographer Paul Ratje, which are now available through Getty, depict Border Patrol agents with evident anger on their faces mounted on horseback who are grabbing Haitian migrants by their shirts and using what look like whips on them. Many of the images depict migrants running with food in their hands.
"I don't know anyone who could watch that video and not have that emotion," Psaki told CBS Mornings. "It's important for people to know this is not who we are," she added. "That's not who the Biden-Harris administration is."
The photos of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents went viral Monday, prompting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to announce an investigation that very evening.
"DHS does not tolerate the abuse of migrants in our custody and we take these allegations very seriously," the agency tweeted. The department added that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had directed additional staff to be on-site to "ensure that the responsibilities of DHS personnel are executed consistent with applicable policies and training and the Department's values."
But that's not all in defense of the White House and DHS: Mayorkas even accused a reporter of “assuming the facts” when asked about the possible use of whips at Monday’s press conference, noting the agents use long reins to “ensure the control of the horse.”
The announcement and Mayorkas’ newest comments follow previous criticism of Mayorkas, who made a comment earlier regarding the comparison in treatment of Afghan and Haitian refugees.
Psaki also noted that the Biden administration was "going to absolutely pursue that investigation and get to the bottom of what happened."
Lawmakers have been calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt mass deportations to Haiti for weeks. According to Daily Kos, the Biden administration’s sudden escalation in deportation flights to Haiti is in response to up to 10,000 asylum-seekers and other migrants, many of them Haitian, stranded in a Mexican border town. In the past few months alone, Haiti has endured a horrific 7.2 earthquake and the assassination of its president, resulting in an increase in asylum-seekers and refugees.
"We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, since Sunday thousands of Haitian migrants have been placed on flights back to their home country, with dozens more deportations to follow. So while the White House is condeming this footage, they are continuing their deportations.
Despite promising better immigration policies than Trump, the Biden White House has repeatedly discouraged migrants from coming to the country since Biden took office. Mayorkas confirmed that agenda Sunday in a tweet: "We have sent a very clear message early on, in light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic, that the border is not open, and people should not take the perilous journey here."
Of course, while Psaki noted that the photos were “horrific,” she too defended the Biden administration and its handling of the situation, using COVID-19 as the reason.
"Right now, we also have to implement our laws at the border," Psaki said. "We also want to protect people, both in that community, but also migrants. One of the challenges, as we're all facing a pandemic here, is the gathering of so many people. We're still implementing Title 42, which means that we're going to send people out of the country who come in."
Under Title 42, Border Patrol officials can expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19. White House officials have defended the law as "not an immigration authority, but a public health authority." The policy is a Trump-era policy many had already criticized as being a guise for xenophobia.
While a judge ruled the policy shouldn’t apply to families last week, the decision doesn’t take effect for another two weeks—which the Biden administration is also appealing.
“What kills me about that is that everyone knows what we Haitians are going through,” one man said in a video shared by Al Jazeera. “There’s no president. Crime is high. Students can’t go to school. There’s no work. The economy is down. People can’t put up with that. Deportation is not good for us.”
However, advocates argue that many of these people were already living in the U.S. They did not just arrive from Haiti for the law to be the reason why they are being deported.
“This is just perpetuating white racist stigma against the people of Haiti. And these people did not come from Haiti," said Horace Campbell, professor of African American Studies and Political Science at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, as reported by USA Today. He called the expulsion of Haitians "inhumane" and "criminal."
While Mayorkas told CNN Tuesday that “any mistreatment or abuse of a migrant is unacceptable, is against border patrol policy, training, and our department’s values,” these occurrences are not uncommon to DHS and the Border Patrol’s history.
Both DHS and Border Patrol have been consistently under fire for their treatment of migrants for years, especially under the Trump administration, which has policies still in place despite no longer being in office. The fact that these immigrants are majority Black is also something advocates have taken note of.
“Black lives matter wherever they are,” Texas Rep. Alexander Green said on the House floor on Tuesday while introducing a resolution denouncing the alleged mistreatment of Haitian migrants at the border.
Others, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, shared similar sentiments, stating the Border Patrol agents' actions were "human rights abuses, plain and simple. Cruel, inhumane, and a violation of domestic and international law."
"This needs a course correction and the issuance of a clear directive on how to humanely process asylums seekers at our border," Omar wrote on Twitter.
The photos and videos shared this weekend were beyond horrific and disturbing. It makes one wonder how many images and videos of abuse are not captured daily. Such footage should not have to go viral for us to take action. Abuse and mistreatment of migrants must end now.
"I have seen some of the footage. I don't have the full context. I can't imagine what context would make that appropriate," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.”
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According to The Washington Post, photos captured by photographer Paul Ratje, which are now available through Getty, depict Border Patrol agents with evident anger on their faces mounted on horseback who are grabbing Haitian migrants by their shirts and using what look like whips on them. Many of the images depict migrants running with food in their hands.
"I don't know anyone who could watch that video and not have that emotion," Psaki told CBS Mornings. "It's important for people to know this is not who we are," she added. "That's not who the Biden-Harris administration is."
The photos of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents went viral Monday, prompting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to announce an investigation that very evening.
"DHS does not tolerate the abuse of migrants in our custody and we take these allegations very seriously," the agency tweeted. The department added that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had directed additional staff to be on-site to "ensure that the responsibilities of DHS personnel are executed consistent with applicable policies and training and the Department's values."
But that's not all in defense of the White House and DHS: Mayorkas even accused a reporter of “assuming the facts” when asked about the possible use of whips at Monday’s press conference, noting the agents use long reins to “ensure the control of the horse.”
The announcement and Mayorkas’ newest comments follow previous criticism of Mayorkas, who made a comment earlier regarding the comparison in treatment of Afghan and Haitian refugees.
Psaki also noted that the Biden administration was "going to absolutely pursue that investigation and get to the bottom of what happened."
Lawmakers have been calling on the Biden administration to immediately halt mass deportations to Haiti for weeks. According to Daily Kos, the Biden administration’s sudden escalation in deportation flights to Haiti is in response to up to 10,000 asylum-seekers and other migrants, many of them Haitian, stranded in a Mexican border town. In the past few months alone, Haiti has endured a horrific 7.2 earthquake and the assassination of its president, resulting in an increase in asylum-seekers and refugees.
"We cannot continue these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our refugee laws," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said during remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, since Sunday thousands of Haitian migrants have been placed on flights back to their home country, with dozens more deportations to follow. So while the White House is condeming this footage, they are continuing their deportations.
Despite promising better immigration policies than Trump, the Biden White House has repeatedly discouraged migrants from coming to the country since Biden took office. Mayorkas confirmed that agenda Sunday in a tweet: "We have sent a very clear message early on, in light of the fact that we are in the midst of a pandemic, that the border is not open, and people should not take the perilous journey here."
Of course, while Psaki noted that the photos were “horrific,” she too defended the Biden administration and its handling of the situation, using COVID-19 as the reason.
"Right now, we also have to implement our laws at the border," Psaki said. "We also want to protect people, both in that community, but also migrants. One of the challenges, as we're all facing a pandemic here, is the gathering of so many people. We're still implementing Title 42, which means that we're going to send people out of the country who come in."
Under Title 42, Border Patrol officials can expel undocumented migrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19. White House officials have defended the law as "not an immigration authority, but a public health authority." The policy is a Trump-era policy many had already criticized as being a guise for xenophobia.
While a judge ruled the policy shouldn’t apply to families last week, the decision doesn’t take effect for another two weeks—which the Biden administration is also appealing.
“What kills me about that is that everyone knows what we Haitians are going through,” one man said in a video shared by Al Jazeera. “There’s no president. Crime is high. Students can’t go to school. There’s no work. The economy is down. People can’t put up with that. Deportation is not good for us.”
However, advocates argue that many of these people were already living in the U.S. They did not just arrive from Haiti for the law to be the reason why they are being deported.
“This is just perpetuating white racist stigma against the people of Haiti. And these people did not come from Haiti," said Horace Campbell, professor of African American Studies and Political Science at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, as reported by USA Today. He called the expulsion of Haitians "inhumane" and "criminal."
While Mayorkas told CNN Tuesday that “any mistreatment or abuse of a migrant is unacceptable, is against border patrol policy, training, and our department’s values,” these occurrences are not uncommon to DHS and the Border Patrol’s history.
Both DHS and Border Patrol have been consistently under fire for their treatment of migrants for years, especially under the Trump administration, which has policies still in place despite no longer being in office. The fact that these immigrants are majority Black is also something advocates have taken note of.
“Black lives matter wherever they are,” Texas Rep. Alexander Green said on the House floor on Tuesday while introducing a resolution denouncing the alleged mistreatment of Haitian migrants at the border.
Others, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, shared similar sentiments, stating the Border Patrol agents' actions were "human rights abuses, plain and simple. Cruel, inhumane, and a violation of domestic and international law."
"This needs a course correction and the issuance of a clear directive on how to humanely process asylums seekers at our border," Omar wrote on Twitter.
The photos and videos shared this weekend were beyond horrific and disturbing. It makes one wonder how many images and videos of abuse are not captured daily. Such footage should not have to go viral for us to take action. Abuse and mistreatment of migrants must end now.