Photos showing border guards on horseback pushing back migrants near Del Rio, Texas, have aroused great excitement since Monday, September 20 in the United States, where Joe Biden’s administration announced the opening of an investigation to shed light on the facts.
“Human beings should never be treated in such a way and this concerns me deeply”, reacted, Tuesday September 21, US Vice President Kamala Harris judging these images “Horrible.” She told reporters that she supported the ongoing investigations.
In a snapshot taken by a photographer employed by Agence France-Presse (AFP), an agent on horseback grabs a man by his T-shirt. On another, he keeps a group at bay by turning his reins, in a threatening posture.
“These images make you nauseous. This type of violence must stop ”, said U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Rarely as critical of the Democratic president, he urged Joe Biden to immediately end the deportations of Haitian migrants and to reverse the health rules adopted at the start of the epidemic, in 2020, to authorize the immediate refoulement of migrants. “We cannot continue these vile and xenophobic policies coming from [Donald] Trump, who ignore our refugee laws ”, he said. Monday evening, the Democratic President of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, had already judged “Overwhelming” the situation of Haitian migrants at the border. These images “Mistreatment of Haitian migrants along the border is horrible and very disturbing”, said in a statement the elected Democrat Bennie Thompson, who chairs the committee on internal security in the House of Representatives.
“I do not know the context, but I do not see in which framework that would be appropriate”, admitted Jen Psaki, the spokesperson for the White House during a press briefing. On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, “Cooperation to repatriate Haitian migrants south of the United States border”, explained the State Department. The two men shared their “Common concern for the safety of Haitian citizens”.
Mr Blinken also spoke by phone with his Mexican counterpart, Marcelo Ebrard, of “Coordination for the management of the flow of illegal migrants”, said a spokesperson.
“Controlling a horse in a river is difficult”
Equestrian patrols were deployed on Sunday near the Rio Grande, where thousands of migrants, most of them Haitians, have been camping for several days in the hope of being admitted to the United States, the head of the United States told reporters. border guards, Raul Ortiz. “I asked them to find out if any individuals were in distress and to gather information on smugglers”, he added, recalling that “Controlling a horse in a river is difficult”.
It seems that, in this context, some have used the long reins, added the US Minister of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas. “We’re going to do an investigation to make sure this is the situation; otherwise, we will act accordingly ”, he assured.
The scene occurred as migrants were washing in the Rio Grande or crossing the river to collect food in Mexico and bring it back to their families on American soil, according to the author of the photos, Paul Ratje.
Suddenly five to six mounted officers arrived and asked them to return to Mexico. “The situation was tense and the migrants started running to get around them, he reports. One of the officers grabbed the man in the photo by the T-shirt. I don’t believe he was hurt. ”
“I did not see any lashes, but the agents twirled their reins”, he again related. The tension then eased and the border guards let these people join the makeshift camp.
A continuing crisis at the border
The influx of migrants to the border has turned into a crisis for the Biden administration. In Del Rio, Mr. Mayorkas claimed that Haitian migrants were receiving false information about the possibility of staying in the United States, also stating that the United States was speeding up its repatriation process to Haiti, considering such a return as safe for them. .
“We have reiterated that our borders are not open and that people should not undertake such a dangerous journey”, said the minister. “If you come illegally to the United States, you will be sent back”, he added.
Mr Mayorkas also claimed that he was ” reasonable ” to return these migrants to Haiti, despite the political instability that reigns there, and the consequences of the earthquake that hit the southwest of the country on August 14.
The UN warns the United States
On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed its deep concern over these massive expulsions of Haitian migrants by the United States, warning of the risk this poses to people. who can seriously claim the right of asylum.
“We are deeply concerned that there was no individual examination in the case” Haitians, UNHCR spokesperson Marta Hurtado told a regular UN briefing in Geneva.
The UNHCR nonetheless welcomed the announcement made on Monday by the Biden administration that the United States would host 125,000 refugees in 2022, double the figure for this year, to meet the needs generated by humanitarian crises around the world.
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