The scene recalls the man hunt that the plantation foremen in the southern United States undertook when a slave tried to escape, as so many movies have described. But this time it is not a fiction. The stark images of border agents on horseback attempting to aggressively disperse Haitian migrants gathering in the Texas city of Del Rio, on the US-Mexico border, have forced the Department of Homeland Security to “quickly” investigate the facts, which he described as “extremely worrying”.
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During this weekend, the media displaced to the border between the United States and Mexico near the city of Del Río, where the Haitian migrant settlement is located, have captured images in which Border Patrol officials are observed. on horseback, chasing migrants who had crossed into US territory and trying to prevent them from entering the precarious camp. The caravan of 14,000 migrants, mostly Haitians, managed to enter the United States last Thursday and settle under the bridge that connects the two countries. Washington on Monday ordered the border to be closed.
In some of these images, the Patrol can be seen capturing Haitians by lasso, something about which White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked this Monday, who, at a press conference, described the events as “ horrible ”. “I have seen some of the images. I don’t have the full context. I can’t imagine what context would make it appropriate, but I have no additional details, “said Psaki, who noted that officers who have resorted to these practices” should never be able to do so again. “
The Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has for his part defended the use of horse patrols, at the same time that he has reported that his department will investigate what happened. In his Twitter account, the office he directs has stressed that it “does not tolerate mistreatment of migrants” in its custody and that the Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the incident. “Secretary Mayorkas has ordered that office personnel be present at the site to ensure that the attributions [de los agentes] they are carried out in a manner consistent with the policies and values of the Department ”, he explained on Twitter.
This Monday, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, asked the president of the United States, Joe Biden, to declare an emergency for this state given the seriousness of the immigration crisis. This Tuesday, the UN expressed its deep concern about the situation of Haitians and, specifically, about the massive deportations by Washington, warning that people with well-founded asylum applications may be at risk. “We are seriously concerned by the fact that apparently there has been no individual evaluation of the cases,” said a United Nations spokeswoman in Geneva, quoted by the agency France Presse.
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