Time to Debunk the Narrative That Border Patrol Agents Whipped Migrants

Sorry, liberals—despite what you might think, border patrol agents weren’t whipping migrants huddled under the Del Rio bridge.

A Tweet from Vice News this week claimed that law enforcement agents “are whipping Haitian migrants at the US-Mexico border in Texas.” Yet neither the story nor the accompanying video shows mounted police whipping migrants. 

The El Paso Times’ description of a border patrol agent swinging “his whip menacingly” at migrants is slightly more accurate but still misleading as National Review convincingly argues:

However, the videos that have surfaced of the incident appear to show the agents wielding their reins — not whips — as they try to contain the flow of migrants across the river. And, while the agents can be seen swinging their reins menacingly, none of the available video evidence shows border patrol agents striking migrants with their reins.

PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki during a press briefing on Monday what the “consequences” would be “if what we’re seeing is what we’re seeing,” in regards to border patrol agents “seemingly using whips.”

“We just saw this footage,” Psaki responded. “It’s horrible to watch. I just have to get more information on it. I don’t have more information on it. I’ve also seen the video. I can’t imagine what the scenario is where that would be appropriate. I’m certainly not suggesting that, but we’ve just seen the footage earlier this morning.”

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Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the situation would be investigated, but noted that “to ensure control of the horse, long reins are used.” Moreover, a source within Customs and Border Control told Townhall senior writer Julio Rosas that “agents use their reins for a lot of reasons. Primarily it’s used to steer the horse, but agents will also spin them sometimes to deter people from getting too close to the horse. If they get too close, the horse can step on them, breaking bones or causing other injuries. Agents also need to maintain control of their reins to avoid losing control of the horse, which can cause injuries to immigrants, the agents, and the horses.”

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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