Border Patrol Agents accused in “whipping” incident facing new charges

The Department of Homeland Security will reportedly discipline Border Patrol Agents accused and cleared of “whipping” Haitian migrants last year at the U.S.-Mexico border. Fox News reported DHS will announce the disciplinary actions any day. According to a federal source, DHS will submit proposed disciplinary actions for the agents, who will then have the opportunity to respond to the charges.

Multiple Border Patrol agents were reassigned from their normal duties after images of them on horseback emerged last September. The images showed agents maneuvering around Haitian migrants trying to enter the United States illegally. The long, leather reins used to control horses can be seen flying about in the pictures. The reins were mistakenly called whips and led to the false narrative agents were whipping migrants.

A federal investigation cleared the agents of criminal wrongdoing, but now those agents could be facing administrative violations.

When news of the incident first broke last year, it served as a pivotal moment in the Biden Administration’s stance on immigration and the provision known as Title 42, a Trump-era policy restricting border crossings during the Pandemic. Democrats decried the actions of the Border Patrol agents and called for an end to what they called the “hateful and xenophobic” policies of President Trump.

Alternatively, Republicans in Washington said President Biden wasn’t doing enough to deal with what they called a “crisis” at the border.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.