Border chief defends horseback agents wrongfully accused of whipping migrants

{AGENTS ACCUSED OF WHIPPING MIGRANTS VO}
[TITLE: CHIEF BACKS AGENTS ON HORSEBACK]
REMEMBER THESE IMAGES — BORDER PATROL AGENTS ON HORSEBACK — APPREHENDING MIGRANTS ILLEGALLY CROSSING THE DEL RIO SECTOR OF THE BORDER —
THEY WENT VIRAL IN 2021.
[L3: FALSELY ACCUSED OF WHIPPING MIGRANTS]
PRESIDENT BIDEN, HIS ADMINISTRATION, AND TOP DEMOCRATS ACCUSED THE AGENTS OF WHIPPING MIGRANTS AND CALLED IT SYSTEMIC RACISM BY BORDER PATROL.
{BIDEN ON WHIPPING MIGRANTS SOT}
[SOT LABEL ONLY: SEPT. 24, 2021 | WASHINGTON]
{“To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped — it’s outrageous, those people will pay.”}
{ANCHOR}
[L3: MEDIA, PRESIDENT RAN WITH NARRATIVE]
TEN MONTHS LATER, FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION — IT TURNED OUT THE NARRATIVE OF AGENTS ON HORSEBACK WHIPPING MIGRANTS WAS FALSE.
YOU SAW PRESIDENT BIDEN THERE MAKE A WHIPPING MOTION WITH HIS HAND.
BORDER AGENTS HAD *REINS THAT WERE USED TO CONTROL THEIR HORSES —
MISTOOK AS *WHIPS BY THE MEDIA.
[l3: BORDER CHIEF CALLS OUT ACCUSATIONS]
18 MONTHS SINCE THE INCIDENT —
TOP BORDER OFFICIALS WHO SPOKE WEDNESDAY AT A HOMELAND SECURITY HEARING — ARE STILL TAKEN ABACK BY WHAT THEY CALL BOLD ACCUSATIONS.
[NAME SUPER: Chief Raul Ortiz | U.S. BORDER PATROL]
[SOT ONLY LABEL: MARCH 16, 2023 | PHARR, TEXAS]
{TAKE CHIEF SOT}
<24:11:24:21>
“last year’s mass migration event in del rio was chaotic. we had 20 thousand migrants show up at one time.”
<24:31-24:35>
“i remain proud of our horse patrol unit and what we did in del rio”
{CONT VO}
[L3: CHIEF WANTS SHIFT IN MEDIA FOCUS]
IN AN EMAIL –CHIEF ORTIZ SAID THE WORK OF BORDER PATROL IS LARGELY DEMONIZED BY THE MEDIA — CALLING “THIS HORSE BUSINESS” AWFULLY NEGATIVE — WHEN EVERY DAY HIS AGENTS ARE PROVIDING LIFESAVING EFFORTS TO THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS WHO CROSS HUNGRY, DEPRIVED OF WATER, AND OFTEN INJURED.
{ANCHOR}
[L3: AGENTS ON FRONTLINES OF CRISIS]
HE SAYS HORSEBACK AGENTS ARE A VITAL PART OF THEIR PATROL — ABLE TO MOVE THROUGH HARSH LOCATIONS — ANDDESERVE BETTER BEING ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE BORDER CRISIS.