Border chief defends horseback agents wrongfully accused of whipping migrants

Mar 16, 2023

Karah Rucker Anchor

By Karah Rucker (Anchor), Stacey Chamberlain (Producer), Brian Spencer (Editor)

Images of Border Patrol agents on horseback went viral in September 2021. Some who viewed the images accused the agents of whipping migrants who were crossing the Del Rio sector of the border. After a 10-month investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the accusations were proven false. The narrative of agents on horseback whipping migrants was false despite it being repeated by some media outlets and the Biden Administration, according to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.

“To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped — it’s outrageous, those people will pay,” Biden said in a press conference following the September 2021 incident.

“Our nation saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism.”

After the images were wrongfully construed by the administration, the U.S. Border Patrol said the agents on horseback had reins in their hands used to control their horses. They did not carry whips nor were reins used on migrants.

18 months since the agents were accused of whipping migrants, top border officials who spoke at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Texas are still taken aback by what they call bold accusations.

“The mass migration event in Del Rio was chaotic,” Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said. “We had 20,000 migrants show up at one time. I remain proud of our horse patrol unit and what we did in Del Rio.”

Ortiz previously said in an email the work of the Border Patrol is largely demonized by the media.

“This horse business is awfully negative but there are great efforts occurring and we aren’t highlighting any of them,” he said in an email. “Everyday we are providing lifesaving efforts to migrants under the bridge.”

Chief Ortiz said horseback agents are a vital part of their patrol. He said horses are able to move through remote, harsh locations and deserve better while serving on the front lines of the border crisis.

Tags: Alejandro Mayorkas, Border, Border patrol, Department of Homeland Security, House Committee on Homeland Security, Immigration, Raul Ortiz, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S.-Mexico Border

{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.