Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas learned within hours following an alleged abusive incident involving Border Patrol on Sept. 19, 2021, that a federal agent had not used a whip against a Haitian immigrant, yet the Cabinet official continued to perpetuate a different narrative.
Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request lawsuit by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project revealed that a Biden administration official told Mayorkas and other government personnel that he would “need to clarify what reins looks like vs. a horse whip, and clarify use of force.”
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“These emails paint a picture of the Biden administration’s continued incompetence and politicizing of border security,” former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Thomas Homan and former acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a statement. “They offer more proof that Secretary Mayorkas was made aware the ‘whipping’ narrative was false, days before he continued to insinuate otherwise from the White House podium.”
The email is one of 130 pages of internal communications that provide the first look into how President Joe Biden’s White House and DHS responded to a Reuters report that agents in Del Rio, Texas, had used “a lariat like a whip” against immigrants carrying bags of food over the Rio Grande from Mexico.
In another email, an unidentified Biden administration official emailed senior officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“We need to get more details on this as soon as possible. Just got a call from [White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs/Political] —the footage is getting everywhere,” according to an email sent on Sept. 24 to acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, acting CBP Deputy Commissioner Benjamine “Carrie” Huffman, and CBP Executive Assistant Commissioner Manuel “Manny” Padilla.
The second email showed “the White House pressuring CBP for answers in what quickly became a politicized investigation,” said Homan and Morgan, both former Trump administration officials.
Other emails show the fight that CBP officials, notably Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, put up trying to correct the false information that his superiors dispersed. Ortiz is not a Biden appointee but a career law enforcement official, as were Huffman and Padilla.
“This horse business is awfully negative, but there are great efforts occurring and we aren’t highlighting any of them,” Ortiz wrote to the band of officials late Sept. 20. “Our agents are being assaulted and we aren’t saying a word.”
“The bus contractors and pilots are dealing with Haitians escaping or trying to overrun drivers and we stay quiet,” Ortiz said, referring to multiple incidents in Del Rio where immigrants had violently taken over transport buses. “Agents and pro staff are working 14 hour days in difficult conditions, nothing said. We have to change the narrative or these stories will be the only story.”
“Agreed!” Huffman wrote on Sept. 21. “What are assault against agents stats? I have not seen that reported out anywhere internally. Also number of folks treated medically, babies delivered, meals provided, etc.”
Miller also joined in with a call to highlight the “incredible work” that Border Patrol agents were doing sustaining the tens of thousands of immigrants who crossed the river within days and had set up an impromptu camp under the U.S. side of the international bridge.
In a highly publicized incident that took place as 20,000 Haitian immigrants streamed across the Rio Grande from Mexico over a period of days, mounted agents were photographed attempting to prevent people from walking across the river. The immigrants ignored verbal orders to turn around, and the mounted agents rode along the riverbank, where immigrants tried to get by them.
One agent was accused by third parties on social media of whipping one person. Before any investigation had been undertaken, top Biden administration officials condemned the federal law enforcement agent.
Biden claimed people were “being strapped” in an “outrageous” way and vowed that “those people will pay.”
Despite the internal discourse among top DHS officials, Mayorkas publicly stated on the morning of Sept. 21 that he was “horrified” by the images. While he didn’t use the word “whip,” the secretary condemned the incident and said horses should not be “weaponized.” He later admitted that he had reacted “without having seen the images” prior to commenting to the media.
DHS Sec. Mayorkas on troubling viral videos of Border Patrol being aggressive with Haitian migrants:
“One cannot weaponize a horse to aggressively attack a child. That is unacceptable. That is not what our policies and our training require … We will not tolerate mistreatment.” pic.twitter.com/fpkNrDv90w
— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2021
However, the emails indicate Mayorkas was thoroughly briefed on the issue prior to his statement.
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Mayorkas vowed before Congress in the weeks after the incident to conclude it within “a matter of days, not weeks” and find out if agents were too aggressive through a federal investigation of the incident. The conclusion and more than 500-page report were not released for nine months.
DHS maintained in the days and months that followed the incident that it was “committed to transparency and will release the results of the investigation once it is complete.”
