“This is scandalous. I promise you that these people will pay for it,” said Biden on Friday in the White House in Washington. The pictures of the mission are “terrible” and shameful. “That will have consequences.”
What happened there is “dangerous” and “wrong” and sends the wrong signal – nationally and internationally, said Biden. A few days ago, footage of the use of US border guards on horses against migrants in the city of Del Rio, Texas, caused an outcry and brought the US government into distress. Dramatic photos and videos showed mounted officers of the American Border Guard apparently aggressively rounding up migrants.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said an investigation into the incidents was ongoing. Even Biden referred to this investigation on Friday. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Thursday that horses will not be used for border patrols in Del Rio for the time being.
In the US city on the border with Mexico, thousands of migrants, mostly from Haiti, had gathered in the past few days and camped under a bridge – with the aim of getting protection in the USA. After the mayor’s calls for help, the US government began to deport Haitians back home, which, given the precarious situation in the Caribbean state, has met with sharp criticism from human rights organizations. The videos and photos of the mounted border guards against the migrants had made the US government even more difficult to explain.
