Alejandro Mayorkas condemned the agents’ conduct against refugees.
Yesterday, footage surfaced of United States Border Patrol agents removing Haitian refugees from their temporary camp under the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas. The footage included shots of agents charging at the refugees on horseback and threatening them with reins and whips. Several refugees in the footage can be seen falling over and sustaining injuries in the process.
Today, Alejandro Mayorkas, Chief of the United States Department of Homeland Security, responded to the footage with blanket condemnation. “I was horrified by what I saw,” Mayorkas told CNN. “I’m going to let the investigation run its course. But the pictures that I observed troubled me profoundly. That defies all of the values that we seek to instill in our people.”
This statement follows a series of tweets from the DHS stating that Mayorkas “directed that personnel from the Office of Professional Responsibility be on site full-time to ensure that the responsibilities of DHS personnel are executed consistent with applicable policies and training and the Department’s values.”
“The footage is extremely troubling and the facts learned from the full investigation, which will be conducted swiftly, will define the appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken.”
Duncan S.
September 21, 2021
