The Center for Immigration Studies released a report questioning Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ and President Joe Biden’s reactions to a report that Haitian migrants illegally crossing the Rio Grande were whipped Sept. 19, 2021.
The Oct. 14 article said several media outlets reported Mayorkas knew Border Patrol agents in Del Rio, Texas, hadn’t “whipped” or “strapped” Haitian migrants. However, Mayorkas didn’t refute Biden's earlier statements condemning the alleged actions, even when Mayorkas was questioned about them.
“I want to make one important point. In the midst of meeting these challenges, we — our entire nation — saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are, who we aspire to be or the integrity and values of our truly heroic personnel in the Department of Homeland Security,” Mayorkas said, according to the article.
“But it was horrible what — to see, as you saw — to see people treated like they did: horses nearly running them over and people being strapped. It’s outrageous,” Biden reportedly said during a Sept. 24, 2021, briefing, according to the article. “I promise you, those people will pay. They will be — an investigation is underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment. But beyond an embarrassment, it’s dangerous; it’s wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It’s simply not who we are.”
However, an e-mail Mayorkas reportedly received before he attended a news conference Sept. 24, 2021, contained excerpts of reports that the photographer who took photos of Border Patrol agents on horseback Sept. 19, 2021, hadn’t whipped anyone, the article said. Instead Mayorkas provided an update on the incident during the conference.
“In an Oct. 12 letter to Mayorkas, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked the secretary whether he had received the e-mail, informed the White House prior to its press conference about it, and ‘apologized to the Border Patrol agents for unfairly vilifying them and their work,’” the article said. “None of this is a good look for Biden, Mayorkas or their fellow Democrats, with midterm congressional elections less than a month away and support for their border agenda dangerously low. Both DHS and the White House clownishly blundered their way through the entire ‘Del Rio’ episode and beyond, stepping on metaphorical rakes that slapped them in the face with each turn.”
