The horseback Border Patrol agents who were wrongly accused of "whipping" Haitians illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border last September have reportedly been cleared of wrongdoing in the months-long investigation that was initially promised to only take a few days.
Fox News reported on Wednesday they learned "officials" have cleared the agents of any wrongdoing. In the time the agents were falsely accused of whipping the Haitians and the investigation from Homeland Security that followed, the agents were put on desk duty, taking away desperately needed manpower during the continuing border crisis.
????: Fox reporting that the mounted Border Patrol agents falsely accused of "whipping" illegal migrants in Del Rio have been cleared!
— John Cooper (@thejcoop) April 13, 2022
Hopefully these men are fully restored after being slandered by Biden and Mayorkas. #BidenBorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/oN1NpshQ1I
The agents were deployed to prevent more Haitians from crossing into the U.S. because there were already more than 10,000 people being forced to camp under the international bridge in the south Texas heat due to lack of space.
At the makeshift camp under the international bridge in Del Rio and I can tell you the pictures and videos don’t do it justice. It’s 100 degrees out and there’s around 12,000 still here. This is now the worst part of the border crisis I’ve seen this year. pic.twitter.com/ugcLSEGysK
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) September 19, 2021
The smears against the agents circulated on social media before reaching the upper levels of government after believing the split reins were whips despite the fact agents are not issued whips.
"We were indeed horrified by the images. That is not who we are," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said shortly after the outrage.
"Of course they should never be able to do it again...It's obviously horrific," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in September.
President Joe Biden promised the agents involved would "pay" and there would "be consequences." Vice President Kamala Harris compared the agents' actions to slavery.