President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the U.S. Border Patrol’s treatment of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas, calling the behavior of agents on horseback “outrageous” and vowing they will face consequences for their actions.
“It’s horrible what you saw. To see people like they did, with horses, running them over, people being strapped, it’s outrageous,” Biden said at the White House, referencing a series of photos and video showing mounted Border Patrol agents grabbing Haitian migrants trying to cross into the U.S.
“I promise you, those people will pay. There is an investigation underway right now and there will be consequences,” he said.
It was the president’s first substantive comment on the situation in Del Rio, where more than 10,000 Haitian migrants have tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico since mid-September.
Vice President Kamala Harris, in an interview with ABC’s “The View” on Friday, compared the agents’ treatment of Haitian migrants to the oppression of indigenous people and African Americans during slavery.
