(Photo : PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)
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TOPSHOT - A United States Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop a Haitian migrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 19, 2021. - The United States said Saturday it would ramp up deportation flights for thousands of migrants who flooded into the Texas border city of Del Rio, as authorities scramble to alleviate a burgeoning crisis for President Joe Biden's administration. (Photo by PAUL RATJE / AFP)
Border Patrol agents are outraged with President Joe Biden, who they believe has thrown them under the bus for the Haitian migrant crisis.
They are particularly enraged by the White House's haste in passing judgment on photos of a mounted agent swinging his horse's reins while confronting an immigrant, which was initially misinterpreted as showing him whipping the man.
That claim has previously been disproved, with the photographer himself claiming that his shot did not reveal such a thing. Despite this, Biden called the image and video "outrageous."
Biden warns Border Patrol agents may lose jobs
Texas Governor Greg Abbott stated the state would recruit any Border Patrol agents who are afraid of losing their jobs after Biden warned they "will pay" for their treatment of Haitians at the border, despite false accusations that they used their horses' reins as whips.
He said that the Biden administration made life tough for Border Patrol agents by failing to enforce immigration rules and protect the border, NY Post reported. If the agents' employment is in jeopardy due to a "president who is abandoning his duty to secure the border, you have a job in Texas," he says.
Democrats seized on pictures published last week showing mounted Border Patrol agents directing their horses to prevent Haitian migrants from crossing the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, and accused the agents of whipping their horses.
The photographer, Paul Ratije, admitted that the agents were "swinging" the reins but said that "it may be misinterpreted when looking at the image."
Meanwhile, George P. Bush made a weekend trip to the southern border and chastised Joe Biden and his administration for the anger over photos of officers on horseback handling illegal immigrants.
After pictures emerged showing Border Patrol agents in Del Rio using what some interpreted as whips to wrangle primarily Haitian migrants in the Department of Homeland Security's ramped-up deportation efforts, the White House declared on Thursday that they would no longer be allowed to ride on horseback.
George Bush slams Biden for the anger over false interpretation of Border Patrol photos
Bush is running for Attorney General of Texas. On Twitter, he argued that officers use horses as a method of mobility over the southern border's "challenging terrain." Bush has been outspoken in his opposition to Biden's border policy, as per Daily Mail.
In July, he joined the Texas Defense Task Force, suing Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for "illegally blocking the construction of the border wall."
Bush also gave "emergency authorization" to fund border wall construction on Texas land, as well as agreements with Customs and Border Protection CBP to lease land from the state to improve enforcement and operations.
Following the release of these pictures of Border Patrol agents on horseback last week, outrage arose. Some said they were using what appeared to be lariats to whip migrants. Others justified their conduct, stating they were simply riding and directing their horses appropriately with the split reins.
According to Mayorkas, the agents in question were transferred to administrative tasks, and an inquiry into the incident in question was begun. The due process appears to be a foreign notion to the Biden administration at times, particularly when dealing with the border crisis, The Hill reported.
After President Biden announced during a brief press conference on Friday that his Border Patrol agents were responsible and would be punished, this basic legal concept - so essential that it occurs twice in the United States Constitution - sprang to mind.
According to a survey issued Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, 37 percent of American adults are "not at all confident," while another 20% are "not too confident" in the administration's handling of immigration. Notably, since March, Democrats' favor of the administration's immigration policy has plummeted 12 points, while independents' approval has decreased 10 percent.
Related Article: US Border Crisis Deepens as Thousands of Haitians Swarmed US; Human Rights Leaders Decry Treatment of Migrants
