Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback were “horrible” to use horse reins to wrangle illegal migrants at the southern border.
“Human beings should never be treated that way. And I’m deeply troubled about it,” Ms. Harris told reporters during a stop in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
She said she “fully” supports an investigation of the incident near Del Rio, Texas, and planned to speak with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about it on Tuesday.
Footage of the incident appears to show agents on horseback using reins as whips.
Ms. Harris, who has been under fire all year for her handling of border issues, said Americans need to learn the reasons for a heavy influx of illegal migrants from Haiti recently.
“The whole point is that we have to understand Haiti,” she said. “Talk about a country that has just experienced so much tragedy … natural disasters, the head of state assassinated. We really have to do a lot more to recognize that as a member of the Western Hemisphere, we’ve got to support some very basic needs that the people of Haiti have to get back up, and to do what we want them to do, be they from Haiti or in the countries in Central America.”
She said, “People want to stay home, they don’t want to leave home, but they leave when they cannot satisfy their basic needs. So yes, this is a concern.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.