White Home condemns border guard use of whip-like wire in opposition to Haitian migrants By Reuters

By Daina Beth Solomon

CIUDAD ACUNA, Mexico (Reuters) -The White Home on Monday criticized using horse reins to threaten Haitian migrants after photographs circulated of a U.S. border guard on horseback charging at migrants close to a riverside camp in Texas.

The principally Haitian migrants in current days have been crossing backwards and forwards between Ciudad Acuna in Mexico and the sprawling camp throughout the border in Del Rio to purchase meals and water, which was briefly provide on the U.S. aspect.

Reuters witnesses noticed https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trapped-migrants-collecting-food-try-evade-law-enforcement-us-mexico-border-2021-09-20 mounted officers carrying cowboy hats blocking the paths of migrants, and one officer unfurling a wire resembling a lariat, which he swung close to a migrant’s face.

A video exhibiting a border guard apparently threatening migrants with the cords was shared on social media.

“I do not assume anybody seeing that footage would assume it was acceptable or acceptable,” White Home spokeswoman Jen Psaki instructed reporters.

“I haven’t got the complete context. I am unable to think about what context would make that acceptable,” she added.

Some on social media commented that the picture of fleeing Black males chased by white officers on horseback had echoes of the historic injustices suffered by Black individuals in the US.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz mentioned the incident was being investigated to verify there was not an “unacceptable” response by regulation enforcement. He mentioned officers had been working in a troublesome atmosphere, making an attempt to make sure the protection of the migrants whereas looking for potential smugglers.

Division of Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned the lengthy reins are utilized by mounted officers to “guarantee management of the horse.”

“However we’re going to examine the info,” he mentioned throughout a information convention in Del Rio.

The camp below a bridge spanning the Rio Grande has turn out to be the newest flashpoint for U.S. authorities looking for to stem a circulate of migrants fleeing gang violence, excessive poverty and pure disasters of their residence international locations.

The camp was a short lived residence to greater than 12,000 migrants, although Texas Governor Greg Abbott mentioned the quantity reached as excessive as 16,000 on Saturday. Many had traveled from as far south as Chile, hoping to use for asylum in the US.

On Monday, as temperatures soared to 104 levels Fahrenheit (40 Celsius), migrants complained about continued shortages of meals and water within the camp. A few of these crossing again into the U.S. may very well be seen balancing giant luggage of ice on their heads as they waded by means of the water.

Throughout the day a whole lot of migrants had returned to the Mexico aspect, together with households with younger youngsters, hoisting backpacks, suitcases and belongings in plastic luggage above their heads.

“This remedy they’re giving is racism, due to the colour of our pores and skin,” mentioned Maxon Prudhomme, a Haitian migrant on the banks of the Rio Grande in Mexico.

Because the solar was setting, about 200 migrants on the Mexican aspect bivouacked in a area by the river, flattening cardboard containers and unfurling blankets to sleep below a cluster of bushes.

Some migrants mentioned they returned to Mexico seeking meals and water, whereas others crossed as a result of fears they’d be deported again to Haiti on flights organized by U.S. authorities.

The primary flights carrying migrants landed in Port-au-Prince on Sunday from the Del Rio camp arrived in Haiti on Sunday, with at the least three extra as a result of make the journey on Monday, in accordance with flight monitoring web site Flightaware.

On Monday, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a cellphone name spoke to Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry about repatriating Haitian migrants on the U.S. southern border, the State Division mentioned in a press release.

The 2 males “mentioned the hazards of irregular migration, which places people at nice danger and sometimes requires migrants and their households to incur crippling debt,” mentioned State Division spokesman Ned Worth.

“THEY CAN’T SEND US BACK”

U.S. officers closed the Del Rio border crossing final Friday as a result of crush of migrants, and mentioned Monday it remained shuttered, with most visitors re-routed to the Eagle Cross, Texas, border crossing, some 55 miles (90 km) south.

The prospect of deportations weighed closely on the camp’s residents, a few of whom traversed continents over months to succeed in the border.

“They can not ship us again to Haiti as a result of everybody is aware of what Haiti is like proper now,” mentioned Haitian migrant Wildly Jeanmary late on Sunday, carrying solely boxer shorts and standing on the Mexican aspect of the river after crossing it.

Drenched, he cited July’s presidential assassination as a cause to not return along with his spouse and their 2-year-old daughter to the poorest nation within the Americas. Haiti was additionally hit by a significant earthquake final month.

“The federal government of the US has no conscience,” mentioned Nerlin Clerge, one other Haitian migrant who stood close to the riverbank and had traveled to the camp along with his spouse and their two younger sons. He mentioned he’s now contemplating making use of for the correct to remain in Mexico.

Mayorkas mentioned he expects between one to 3 each day repatriation flights again to Haiti, including {that a} surge of 600 border brokers and different personnel have been deployed to the realm.

“When you come to the US illegally, you’ll be returned. Your journey won’t succeed,” he mentioned at a information convention.

Whereas President Joe Biden rolled again a lot of his predecessor Donald Trump’s hardline immigration insurance policies earlier this 12 months, he left in place a sweeping pandemic-era expulsion coverage below which most migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border are rapidly turned again.