Images of Border Patrol’s Treatment of Haitian Migrants Prompt Outrage

WASHINGTON — Images of Border Patrol agents connected horses, pushing backmost Haitian migrants crossing the Rio Grande to effort to scope U.S. soil, person prompted outrage among Democrats and called into question President Biden’s determination to swiftly deport thousands who had been arriving en masse astatine a tiny Texas borderline town.

Vice President Kamala Harris connected Tuesday called the attraction “horrible” and said she planned to sermon the contented with Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the caput of the Homeland Security Department, which has started an investigation.

“Human beings should ne'er beryllium treated that way,” Ms. Harris said. “And I’m profoundly troubled astir it.”

Asked if Mr. Biden had seen the images, the White House property secretary, Jen Psaki, said: “He believes that the footage and photos are horrific. They don’t correspond who we are arsenic a country. And helium was pleased to spot the announcement of the investigation.”

The photographs and video footage of the agents’ interactions with the migrants, which were wide circulated online, offered a glimpse of the chaos that had been unfolding since past week, erstwhile ample groups of Haitians started crossing the Rio Grande and illegally entering the United States successful Del Rio, Texas. It is the latest illustration of the Biden administration, successful its attempts to asseverate power implicit soaring numbers of borderline crossings, belying the president’s pledge to reconstruct an asylum programme for susceptible families fleeing persecution and poverty.

The videos look to amusement mounted Border Patrol agents corralling migrants and forcing them backmost to Mexico. Some of the agents were gripping and waving what appeared to beryllium reins, prompting accusations that they had been utilizing whips against them. One video captured an cause shouting an expletive astatine a migrant.

The Biden medication has flown much than 1,000 radical to Haiti since Sunday and plans to tally 7 flights a time starting Wednesday, with country for 135 migrants connected each plane, according to an authoritative acquainted with the program who spoke connected the information of anonymity to sermon interior strategies. But immoderate top Democrats said that strategy was wrong.

“I impulse President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to instantly enactment a halt to these expulsions,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the bulk leader, said connected Tuesday. “We cannot proceed these hateful and xenophobic Trump policies that disregard our exile laws.”

The nationalist wellness regularisation that the Trump medication enactment successful spot astatine the opening of the coronavirus pandemic has been utilized much than 700,000 times nether the Biden medication to rapidly expel migrants, galore of whom are seeking asylum.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that Congress was intimately monitoring what she called a “heartbreaking” situation.

“All migrants seeking asylum indispensable beryllium treated successful accordance with the instrumentality and with basal decency,” she said successful a statement. “Any acts of aggression oregon unit cannot beryllium tolerated and indispensable beryllium investigated.”

Leaders of civilian rights organizations, including the N.A.A.C.P., sent a letter to Mr. Biden connected Tuesday condemning the attraction of the Haitians.

“White (and white-presenting) men connected horseback with lariats are seen chasing, yelling and cursing astatine susceptible Black asylum seekers who person for weeks and months been fleeing toward what they thought was safety,” they wrote. “The actions of these Border Patrol officers are disgraceful and amusement an indifference to the humanity of Black migrants.”

The Border Patrol, founded successful 1924, erstwhile agents were recruited from the Texas Rangers and section sheriffs’ offices, is simply a sprawling limb of Customs and Border Protection. The bureau recovered itself successful the spotlight erstwhile President Donald J. Trump utilized harsh measures to restrict the fig of immigrants entering the United States.

It was besides astatine the halfway of immoderate of Mr. Trump’s much restrictive migration policies, including the “zero-tolerance” argumentation that separated thousands of children from their parents, and the signifier of rapidly expelling migrants crossed the borderline during the pandemic, which Mr. Biden has kept successful place.

To marque bully connected his run committedness of improving the agency’s accountability, Mr. Biden nominated Chris Magnus, the Tucson constabulary chief, who is known arsenic a reformist, arsenic his Customs and Border Protection commissioner.

But the Democratic-controlled Senate has yet to docket a day for his confirmation hearing, 9 months into Mr. Biden’s term.

During a quality league successful Del Rio connected Monday, Chief Raul L. Ortiz of the Border Patrol said the mounted portion was deployed to assistance with information and spot if immoderate migrants were successful distress, arsenic good arsenic to stitchery quality astir smuggling organizations.

“Operating successful riverine environment, connected horseback, is simply a hard situation,” helium said, adding that agents utilized reins to effort to power horses truthful that they did not inadvertently injure migrants. He said the actions of 1 cause connected horseback, who appeared to be spinning his reins similar a lasso arsenic helium loomed implicit a radical successful the water, were astir apt related to that challenge.

“But we volition surely look into the matter,” Chief Ortiz added, “to marque definite that we bash not person immoderate enactment that could beryllium construed arsenic a effect to a instrumentality enforcement effort that is unacceptable.”

The Border Patrol’s mounted unit has antecedently been deployed to areas wherever it tin beryllium hard for agents to spot migrants trying to evade them, specified arsenic the immense brushwood of carrizo cane on the Rio Grande, said Gil Kerlikowske, a erstwhile commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. Agents person said that migrants tin usage the wooded areas to easy gaffe past them.

But the agents connected horseback connected Monday appeared to beryllium on an unfastened agelong of the Rio Grande, wherever families with children were besides gathered.

“They’re truly bully to observe successful brush,” Mr. Kerlikowske said, referring to the horses, “but retired successful the open, particularly with a batch of people, is astir apt not the champion spot for them to be.”

Of the Border Patrol, helium added, “I deliberation they’re truly trying to nonstop a beardown deterrence message.”

Despite initially suggesting that his medication would extremity the nationalist wellness regularisation and revert to allowing migrants to spell done the accustomed asylum process, Mr. Biden has turned to deterrence measures, insisting that the borderline is not unfastened and utilizing repatriation flights to convey that present is not the clip for migrants to effort to travel to the United States. Border crossings successful caller months person reached their highest level successful decades.

Even so, determination has been inconsistency astatine assorted points on the borderline astir who volition beryllium prevented from entering the United States nether the nationalist wellness rule. Some accidental that has led to disorder among migrants “about what the concern is connected the borderline and however they tin champion question protection,” said Robyn Barnard, the elder advocacy counsel for exile extortion astatine Human Rights First.

Immigration advocates person besides suggested that the medication is ignoring its ain appraisal of surviving conditions successful Haiti, which it deemed truthful utmost that it extended authorization successful precocious July for immoderate Haitian who was successful the state to unrecorded temporarily successful the United States.

“It is reprehensible that Haitian families seeking information amidst governmental unit and a devastating earthquake astatine location are met with anti-Black unit and nary existent accidental to question protection,” said Katharina Obser, a manager astatine the Women’s Refugee Commission.

Many of the migrants who precocious arrived successful Del Rio person not lived successful Haiti for years; alternatively they person been residing successful South America aft fleeing the catastrophic earthquake successful Haiti successful 2010. This has made the swift deportations adjacent harder for radical who are repatriated to a state they cognize small astir anymore.

In reality, not each the migrants arriving astatine the borderline successful Del Rio are being deported. Hundreds of Haitian families person said they fearfulness returning home, and they person been allowed into the United States to question asylum.

During a Senate proceeding connected Monday, Republicans pressed Mr. Mayorkas astir the latest borderline crisis.

“This is simply a humanitarian situation successful Del Rio — you tin rotation it whichever mode that you want. But you’re rather right, we should not minimize the humanitarian conditions for which, frankly, you’re responsible,” Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, said aft Mr. Mayorkas described the conditions helium saw successful Del Rio a time earlier arsenic a “human tragedy.”

“You and your medication are responsible,” Mr. Hawley added. “Tens of thousands of radical surviving successful conditions that are startling, startling, brought present due to the fact that of your policies.”

His comments came aft helium grilled Mr. Mayorkas astir the Biden administration’s program to code the summation successful amerciable immigration.

In Del Rio connected Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas besides blamed the medication for the crisis.

“What the satellite is witnessing present is the open-border policies that are being utilized by the Biden administration. It attracts radical from crossed the full globe,” Mr. Abbott said. “It’s full chaos, and the Biden administration, they request to up their crippled large time.”

J. David Goodman contributed reporting from Austin, Texas, and Annie Karni from Washington.