U.S. Reacts After Video of Border Patrol Agents Confronting Haitian Immigrants Goes Viral

Tags: Currents Border, Faith, Haiti, Haitian Americans, Haitian Catholics, Immigration, migrants, World News

By Emily Drooby

Viral videos of U.S. border patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian immigrants have prompted outrage across the country and from the White House.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said it’s unacceptable.

“I don’t think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate,” she said.

The events occurred near a refugee encampment near Del Rio, Texas where thousands of Haitian migrants seeking asylum are waiting to be processed by the U.S. government.

Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is fighting to uphold Title 42, a public health order issued by the CDC at the beginning of the pandemic used to allow the government to deport undocumented migrants who have crossed the border quickly.

Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, said they are securing transportation for deportation.”

“We in DHS are securing additional transportation to accelerate the pace and increase the capacity of removal flights to Haiti and other destinations,” Alejandro said. “In the Western hemisphere, we are working to increase the capacity of return flights to Haiti and other destinations. We anticipate at least one to three flights per day.”

Many of the Haitians gathering at the border are believed to have been living in South America following the 2010 earthquake and have moved north to the U.S. border due to the coronavirus crisis. Their home country is still recovering from the latest earthquake and dealing with political unrest and increasing violence.