US President Joe Biden has sharply criticized the use of mounted border guards against migrants in Del Rio. At the same time, there is growing criticism of his government, which continues to deport thousands of people back to the crisis-ridden state of Haiti.
US President Joe Biden reacted in unusually sharp words to the use of mounted US border guards against migrants in the border town of Del Rio and announced the consequences. “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,” he said. The camp of thousands of migrants in Del Rio has since been evacuated, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas announced on Friday.
A few days ago, footage of the aggressive use of mounted border guards against migrants caused an outcry and brought the US government into distress. One of the things that could be seen was how a policeman on horseback grabs a Haitian by his T-shirt. In other pictures it looks as if police officers are whipping threateningly with their long reins. Many felt reminded by the scenes of times when police officers on horseback or prison guards in the USA used whips to crack down on black people. Mayorkas then announced an investigation into the incidents.
Biden condemns the behavior of the border guards
Biden said what happened there was “dangerous” and “wrong” and sent the wrong signal – nationally and internationally. With his sharp choice of words towards the border guards involved, the president was accused of influencing the investigation with preliminary convictions. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki dismissed this, saying that Biden only spoke “from the heart”. It is a “very human” reaction that reflects the feelings of many citizens when looking at the pictures.
The Minister of Homeland Security emphasized that the investigation into the border guards would only follow the facts and proceed without prejudice. He will publish the results at the end. Mayorkas said the photos horrified everyone and evoked dire memories from US history. “These images have painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing struggle against systemic racism.” He stressed that his ministry, which is responsible for border guards, does not tolerate abuse of migrants.
Psaki had said on Thursday that horses would not be used for border patrols in Del Rio for the time being. When asked whether these could be abolished altogether, Mayorkas said horses were useful in patrolling difficult border terrain and mounted border guards had saved the lives of arriving migrants in the past. But the practice is being checked.
Migrant camp cleared – many now in Mexico
In Del Rio on the border with Mexico, thousands of migrants, mostly from Haiti, gathered within a few days and camped under a bridge – with the aim of getting protection in the USA. They had seized the opportunity to walk from Mexico to Texas in the Rio Grande border river when the water level was low.
Homeland Security Minister Mayorkas said 15,000 migrants had gathered in Del Rio in a very short time. That is unprecedented. Since September 9, a total of 30,000 migrants have arrived there. By Friday morning, the camp under the bridge had been completely disbanded, he announced. Around 2000 Haitians were brought back to their homeland in 17 deportation flights. Around 8,000 migrants have voluntarily returned to Mexico across the border. The others were housed elsewhere. In several thousand cases it is still being checked whether people are entitled to stay.
Many Haitians now want to stay in Mexico for the time being, work and wait until the situation at the US border calms down. In Tapachula on the border with Guatemala, in Monterrey in the north and in the capital Mexico City, long queues formed on Friday in front of the offices of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid. Most of the Haitians came to Mexico from South and Central America. Some of them had lived in Brazil or Chile for years before they made their way to the USA.
Sharp criticism of mass deportations
In view of the precarious situation in Haiti, criticism of the mass deportations by the Biden government is growing. The US special envoy for Haiti, Daniel Foote, also submitted his resignation in protest on Wednesday. “I don’t want to be associated with the inhumane, counterproductive US decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti,” Foote wrote in a letter to the US State Department.
The crisis state suffers from poverty, “kidnappings, robberies and massacres by armed gangs” and a “corrupt government with ties to gangs,” explained Foote. The country can therefore not cope with the reception of thousands of returning people “without food, shelter and money”, “without there being an additional, avoidable human tragedy”. Homeland Security Minister Mayorkas, on the other hand, defended the course of the US government. The situation in Haiti was assessed and it was concluded that the country was quite capable of accepting migrants. The USA also supported the reintegration of returnees.
Domestically, too, the pressure on the government is growing. US President Biden had announced a departure from the hard line in the refugee and migration policy of his predecessor Donald Trump. In the left wing of the Democrats in particular, many accuse him of failing to keep his promises. Chuck Schumer, majority leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, criticized on Tuesday: “We cannot continue this hateful and xenophobic Trump policy that violates our refugee laws.”
The Trump administration had the so-called Title 42 rule in force at the beginning of the pandemic and used it to seal off the borders to a large extent. Since then, with reference to the risk of Covid-19 being introduced, migrants have been expelled without being given the opportunity to apply for asylum. Mayorkas said this was a public health precaution. This is neither immoral nor unethical.
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