Mayorkas heard no migrants had been whipped hours before calling it 'horrifying': Report

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was alerted that no Haitian migrants had been whipped despite a viral photo apparently showing such action, yet hours later still called the incident "horrifying," according to a new report.

Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs for DHS Marsha Espinosa sent Mayorkas and other department leadership an article in which the photographer said he did not see any migrants being whipped by Border Patrol agents, per an email obtained by the Heritage Foundation via a FOIA request and published by Fox News,

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Later in the day, Mayorkas took to the podium at the White House press briefing with then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki and continued to condemn the incident.

© Provided by Washington Examiner U.S. Customs and Border Protection mounted officers attempt to contain migrants trying to cross the Rio Grande river from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez) Felix Marquez/AP

"In the midst of meeting these challenges, we — our entire nation — saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are, who we aspire to be, or the integrity and values of our truly heroic personnel in the Department of Homeland Security," Mayorkas said. "The investigation into what occurred has not yet concluded. We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation’s ongoing battle against systemic racism."

Later in the briefing, when Mayorkas was asked about the comments from the photographer, he said the images "horrified the nation."

The photograph, which was taken on Sept. 19, 2021, purportedly showed two Border Patrol agents on horseback holding long reins with Haitian migrants in the foreground. The migrants ignored orders to turn around, and they tried to get past mounted agents riding along the riverbank, according to footage.

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Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus announced in July that four Border Patrol agents would receive discipline for their "unprofessional and deeply offensive conduct" during the mass migration incident.

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Tags: Alejandro Mayorkas, Border Patrol, department of homeland security, News, Immigration

Original Author: Jack Birle

Original Location: Mayorkas heard no migrants had been whipped hours before calling it 'horrifying': Report