The president of a union representing U.S. border agents said inaccurate claims by the media and the Biden administration about horse-mounted officers abusing illegal immigrants “boil [his] blood.”
Brandon Judd, a border agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council, slammed the condemnation from the Biden administration over the tactics Border Patrol agents used to thwart Haitian migrants attempting to cross from Mexico into Del Rio, Texas, as the United States contends with record surges of migrants.
“There are very few things that will boil my blood as bad as the White House directly coming out and condemning an action before they know what happened,” Judd said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “Jen Psaki came out yesterday, and she condemned these actions when in reality, it is a legitimate law enforcement action. This was meant to protect the illegal aliens.”
MAYORKAS CONDEMNS TACTICS BY MOUNTED BORDER PATROL AGENTS
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House press secretary Jen Psaki condemned law enforcement efforts to prevent Haitian migrants from crossing into Del Rio this week.
“That is not what our policies and our training require … We will not tolerate mistreatment,” Mayorkas said.
Psaki described their defense of the southern border as “horrible to watch.”
She said on Tuesday she did not “have the full context” of the horse-bound officers down at the southern border but added, “I can’t imagine what context would make that appropriate.”
A senior federal law enforcement told the Washington Examiner that officers seen in viral images online were performing a “twirl of the reins” to keep people back from the horse for their safety, and no one was whipped. The National Fraternal Order of Police also struck down any allegations of “whipping” on Monday.
For all you Twitter warriors out there: these are NOT whips. And no, Border Patrol agents are NOT “whipping” people.
They are REINS… Stay with us here, like a steering wheel is used to drive a car, the reins are used to “drive” the horse.
Thanks for coming to our TED talk. pic.twitter.com/r0n2kXHqvy
— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) September 21, 2021
Judd argued the officers’ tactics are designed to keep people away from the horses to avoid fatal trampling.
“If they get too close to the horses, the horses could step on them, and they could break bones. They could kick them. They can get kicked in the head. It could cause death,” Judd said.
When asked whether the White House and the media depicted the story inaccurately, Judd claimed they were “factually wrong, yes. And the White House knows that they’re factually wrong.”
If anyone was hit by the reins of the horse-bound officers at the border, according to Judd, it was not the intent to inflict harm on the migrants. The border agent underscored that “the reins will be twirled to keep people away from the horses for their protection.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The U.S. is facing a large surge of migrants passing through the nation’s southern border. Customs and Border Protection experienced nearly 209,000 encounters along the southern border in August, and families were stopped 86,487 times that month, according to a report by the agency.
The Washington Examiner contacted CBP and the White House but did not immediately receive a response.
