Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
WARNING: This story contains disturbing content and may not be suitable for all readers.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the White House is seeking more information on the "horrific" viral videos that appear to show U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian refugees at the U.S. border.
"I've seen some of the footage. I don't have the full context. I can't imagine what context would make that appropriate, but I don't have additional details, and certainly I don't have additional context," Psaki said at the White House press briefing. "I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate."
Videos taken by Al Jazeera and Reuters appear to show law enforcement officers on horseback using aggressive tactics when confronting migrants, including authorities swinging long reins near migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas.
Reuters video shows the officers at the water's edge, twirling the long reins as migrants crossed the border at the US shoreline of the Rio Grande. At one point in the video, the officer's horse nearly charges into one of the migrants, who falls back and into the water.
In the Al Jazeera video, a law enforcement officer on horseback is seen swirling the long reins near a group of migrants. Shortly beforehand, another individual on horseback is heard yelling at the migrants, saying, "You use your women? This is why your country's sh*t, because you use your women for this."
Although the profanity is redacted in the video report, Al Jazeera English reporter John Holman published the full quote -- he attributed it to an unnamed Border Patrol agent -- on his Twitter.
Then, as the law enforcement officers attempt to corral the migrants, one of the officers appears to whirl the horse reins near one of the migrants.
The scene played out near a crowded makeshift encampment in Del Rio, where thousands of migrants -- including families, pregnant women and babies -- have gathered under the Del Rio International Bridge. They sleep in the dirt, surrounded by growing piles of garbage, exposed to the elements and without much food and water, in hopes of being processed by the overwhelmed US Border Patrol.
Pressed by reporters Monday for response to the footage, Psaki called it "horrible to watch."
"I can't imagine what the scenario is where that would be appropriate, I'm certainly not suggesting that, but we've just seen the footage earlier this morning," she said. Asked if the agents seen in the footage should be fired for their actions in dealing with migrants, Psaki said: "Of course they should never be able to do it again."
"I don't know what the circumstances would be. It's obviously horrific, the footage. I don't have any more information on it, so let me venture to do that and we'll see if there's more to convey," she added.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the use of horse patrols but said the department would investigate the situation. Speaking at a news conference near the border, Mayorkas said that, according to US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz, long reins are used to ensure control of the horse.
"[B]ut we are going to investigate the facts to ensure that the situation is as we understand it to be, and if it's anything different we will respond accordingly," he said.
Speaking alongside Mayorkas, Ortiz said horse patrol units play an integral part in the security response in Del Rio. "As you know, we have about half of this area locked down, and we're working on trying to get the other side of the bridge completely locked down," he said.
Ortiz said he had asked that the horse patrol unit do an assessment on Sunday to find out if any individuals were in distress and to provide information and intelligence on the smuggling organization's activities in and around the river.
"As was witnessed in the video and some of the pictures, the migrants were going back-and-forth. We do not know who are the smugglers or who are the migrants, so it's important that those Border Patrol agents maintain a level of security for both themselves and for the migrant population," he said.
Ortiz, who said he has ridden horses for several years, also pointed to the difficulty of operating in a riverine environment on horseback.
Maintaining control of the horses "so we do not get in a position where we injure a migrant as they're trying to make that treacherous trek across that river is probably more important than anything," he said. "And I'm pretty sure and confident that that's exactly what was happening, but we will certainly look into the matter, to make sure that we do not have any activity that could be construed as a response to a law enforcement effort that is unacceptable."
When asked about whether whirling the long reins around migrants was a humane way to treat them, Mayorkas responded by saying, "You're assuming facts that have not yet been determined."
Many of the Haitians currently at the border are believed to have been living in South America after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but the toll of the coronavirus pandemic on the region fueled migration to the US southern border.
Haiti is also still reeling from an earthquake in August that resulted in more than 2,000 deaths and thousands more injuries, as well as the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July. For those reasons, more than 50 Democratic lawmakers urged the Biden administration in a letter earlier this month to halt deportations to the country.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.