Maxine Waters said Wednesday that border patrol agents riding horses and apparently using whips on migrants is 'worse than slavery days' while Ayanna Pressley called it 'white supremacist behavior.'
'We're saying to the president and everybody else: You've got to stop this madness,' Waters said during a press conference.
'And I want to know, in the first place, who's paying these cowboys to do this work?' she continued. 'They've got to be gotten rid of. They've gotten to be stopped. It cannot go on.'
Waters, an 83-year-old Democratic representative for California's 43rd district, demanded that journalists: 'Write the story. Tell the story about what is going on.'
'Let people know that they're trying to take us back to slavery days – and worse than that,' she added.
Fellow progressive Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts said, according to Fox News, that the treatment of migrants at the southern border is 'egregious and white supremacist behavior.'
'Haitian lives are black lives,' Pressley said.
She told Vice on Tuesday: 'They're lives, and they're black lives. And if we really believe that black lives matter around the globe, this is the moment to stand up.'
Neither congresswoman provided any proposed solutions to dealing with the crisis in migration at the southern border, and appeared to focus their ire at the agents on the frontlines rather than the president or vice president – who was named 'border czar' early on in the Biden administration.
A group of nearly 15,000 mostly Haiitan set up an encampment near the Del Rio International Bridge in Texas over the last week. That number dropped at least 5,000 by Tuesday, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Removal flights began taking off from the U.S. on Sunday with planes full of Haitian migrants bound for Haiti.
In an effort to round up and prevent Haitians and other migrants from continuing to steam into the U.S. at the Del Rio crossing, Border Patrol agents and officers on horseback started rounding them up over the weekend.
Images quickly emerged of them using what appeared to be ropes, lassos or the reins of the horse as whips to deter migrants from remaining at the makeshift camp along and under the bridge, which was shut down due to the massive influx of migrants.
California Democratic Representative Maxine Waters said Wednesday that 'cowboy' Border Patrol agents on horse back using whips on mostly Haitian migrants is 'worse than slavery'
![Waters tweeted Tuesday accused the Biden administration of 'following Trump [immigration] policies'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/22/22/48263097-10018685-image-a-22_1632346384523.jpg)
Waters tweeted Tuesday accused the Biden administration of 'following Trump [immigration] policies'
Fellow progressive Representative Ayanna Pressley said that the treatment of migrants at the southern border is 'egregious and white supremacist behavior.' She added: 'Haitian lives are black lives'
Thousands of mostly Haitian migrants at the border in Texas are being targeted by the administration for deportation back to their homeland after an encampment of around 15,000 migrants set up near the Del Rio International Bridge
Part of the removal efforts included agents and officers on horse-back wrangling migrants or trying to prevent them from coming back to the camp. Images emerged of some using what appears to be whips on the migrants, leading to immediate backlash
Waters on Tuesday tweeted from her official Twitter account: 'Haitians fleeing violence & the lack of a credible government in Haiti are being treated like animals. U.S. government cowboys on horses used whips on Haitians as they sought refuge. Why are we following the Trump policies? This horrendous treatment of Haitians must STOP NOW.'
Vice President Kamala Harris demanded in a call with Mayorkas on Tuesday that Border Patrol agents treat the migrants in Del Rio, Texas with 'dignity'.
'Yesterday, Vice President Harris spoke to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to receive an update about his trip to Del Rio,' Harris' chief spokesperson Symone Sanders said in a Wednesday statement.
Vice President Kamala Harris told DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to instruct agents to treat migrants with 'dignity, humanely and consistent with our laws and our values'
'During that call, the Vice President raised her grave concerns about the mistreatment of Haitian migrants by border patrol agents on horses, and the need of all CBP agents to treat people with dignity, humanely and consistent with our laws and our values.'
Sanders said that Mayorkas will update the vice president once the Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility concludes its probe into the use of a lariat-like instrument on migrants.
Mayorkas revealed Wednesday to the House Homeland Security Committee that border officials seen in photos rounding up migrants on horseback to push them back across the Mexico border have been reassigned to desk duty while the incidents are being investigated.
'Secretary Mayorkas also spoke with the Vice President about the efforts DHS has underway to address the humanitarian needs of people at our border in Del Rio through the provision of food, shelter, clothing, and medical care, as well as engagement with non-governmental and international organizations,' the statement concluded.
Sanders previewed that Mayorkas and Harris, who was put in charge of addressing 'root causes' of the migration crisis, will speak again in the coming days about the crisis at border Del Rio shares with Mexico.
Mayorkas, in his testimony before the Homeland Security Committee, said the images of Border Patrol agents on horseback appearing to be using their reins as whips, 'correctly and necessarily were met with our nation's horror.'
'They do not reflect who we are as a country nor do they reflect who the United States Custom and Border Protection is,' Mayorkas said.
The secretary said that his agency was investigating the footage 'with tremendous speed and with tremendous force,' and would get to the bottom of the matter in 'days, not weeks.'
'We have ensured that individuals, during the pendency of the investigation, are not conducting law enforcement duties to interact with migrants.'
In a video on Wednesday, Mayorkas said the agents on horseback with the ropes were reassigned to administrative duties during the ongoing investigation into their actions.
Mostly Haitian migrants wade across waist-deep water in the Rio Grande River on Wednesday leaving Del Rio, Texas for Mexico to avoid deportation by U.S. authorities back to Haiti
After crossing back into Mexico, migrants set up shelter at a camp in Ciudad Acuna
The migrants still left at the camps in Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna use the Rio Grande River to cross back and forth daily between the countries. DHS Secretary Mayorkas revealed Tuesday that around 5,000 migrants have already been removed from the encampment in Del Rio
Harris, put in charge of the border crisis earlier this year, spoke with Mayorkas on Tuesday regarding the growing crisis of Haitian migration. Here Mayorkas testifies before the Senate Homeland Security committee on Tuesday. He reavled Wednesday the agents seen on horseback using whip on migrants have been assigned to administrative duties
Harris and President Joe Biden on Tuesday finally addressed the growing crisis after days of silence as a makeshift encampment grew to 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants near an international bridge in Del Rio. On Sunday, deportation efforts ensued as Border Patrol agents rounded up migrants for removal flights to their homeland.
Harris, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, slammed the 'horrible' treatment of migrants and promised to provide more assistance to Haiti as hundreds of nationals have already been deported back to the island on removal flights.
'What I saw depicted about those individuals on horseback treating human beings the way they were, was horrible,' Harris said.
Biden said Tuesday that he will get the situation at the border 'under control', but did not specify any plans to mitigate the crisis.
'We will get it under control,' Biden said to reporters after speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York City.
Some accused agents of whipping migrants, however, Border Patrol agents have defended the actions, saying that their colleagues were simply using their reins on their horses - not migrants.
Brandon Judd, a border agent and president of the National Border Patrol Council, slammed the Biden administration for condemning the images without understanding the situation.
'There are very few things that will boil my blood as bad as the White House directly coming out and condemning an action before they know what happened,' Judd said on the John Solomon Reports podcast.
'Jen Psaki came out yesterday, and she condemned these actions when in reality, it is a legitimate law enforcement action. This was meant to protect the illegal aliens.'
Judd claimed that officers swing around their reins to keep migrants from getting too close to the horse and getting trampled. 'The reins will be twirled to keep people away from the horses for their protection.'
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, who sits on Homeland Security Committee, told DailyMail.com: 'Anyone who spent more than five seconds looking at those images can see that they were holding on to the reins of their horses. CBP agents do not carry whips or lassos.'
'Secretary Mayorkas and Vice President Harris need to address the serious issues causing this crisis,' she added.
The Fraternal Order of Police also tamped down accusations that agents had been whipping migrants.
'With basic knowledge and two brain cells, anyone knows those agents use split reins. They do use them as a whip, on their horses,' the agent said. 'This helps get a quicker response from the horse to move out when needed, especially when the horse may be hesitant with groups of people or other animals,' one Border Patrol agent told Fox News.
'Again it is clear that those 'in charge,' a term that is disgusting to use, have no clue about our operations and frankly operate by ignorance and unhinged emotions,' the agent said.
A Border Patrol officer is swinging what appears to be a lariat while trying to stop Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge Sunday
The devastating images were captures as migrants were trying to return to their encampment from Mexico, where they were buying much-needed supplies
An agent is seen grabbing a migrant by the shirt in a photo taken near the border Sunday
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the footage 'horrible to watch' and said she 'can't imagine a context where that would be appropriate,' as other Democrats cried out against the treatment of Haitian migrants.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the 'inappropriate use of whips by Border Patrol officers' and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer lambasted 'images of inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol - including the use of whips.'
Meanwhile, thousands of Haitian migrants are being freed into the US on a 'very, very large scale' rather than being flown out on deportation flights as the Biden administration promised, according to officials.
Two US officials with knowledge of the situation in Del Rio - where a peak of around 14,600 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under a bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US from Mexico - said thousands have been released into the US with notices to appear at an immigration court in 60 days' time under the so-called 'catch and release' scheme.
Others have been sent on buses and planes to other parts of the US to be processed by Border Patrol agents there, they said.
The exact number released is unclear, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott saying that 8,600 migrants were still in Del Rio on Tuesday afternoon.
Deportation flights began on Sunday, and by Wednesday morning, over 1,000 migrants had been flown back to Haiti, a source with knowledge of the matter told DailyMail.com.
Thousands of migrants pictured Wednesday taking shelter along the Del Rio International Bridge as they await to be processed by Border Patrol
Three flights deported 327 Haitian nationals from Del Rio back to the capital of Port-au-Prince Sunday, two flights deported 233 Monday and 523 were flown out on four flights Tuesday, the official said.
In total, 1083 migrants have been deported in the last three days, suggesting up to 5,000 may have been released into the United States.
Another seven deportation flights are expected to expel further Haitian migrants Wednesday.
This purported reality on the ground is drastically at odds with the public statements the Biden administration has made in recent days in an effort to get a handle on the ever-increasing migrant crisis at the US's southern border.
The official line is that Haitians are being expelled from the US back to the crisis-stricken Caribbean nation under a Donald Trump-era rule.
Under Title 42, migrants can be repatriated to their home nations without the possibility of requesting asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas insisted Monday that migrants entering the US illegally will be sent back to their home countries.
'If you come to the United States illegally, you will be returned, your journey will not succeed, and you will be endangering your life and your family's life,' he said at a press conference.
Mayorkas then went one step further Tuesday, insisting that the border is now 'closed' to migrants.
Haitian migrants cross back into Mexico on Wednesday to get food and water before returning to their camp in the U.S.
Migrants rest at a shelter in Ciudad Acuna in Mexico on Wednesday
Haitians deported from the US recover their belongings scattered on the tarmac of the Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday
Migrants are guided by Border Patrol agents as they prepare to board a bus from the migrant camp in Del Rio to be taken to other parts of the US for processing
Many of the thousands of migrants who have gathered in Del Rio in recent days fled Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and have been living in South American countries including Brazil and Chile. But since these nations have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, many Haitians have traveled up through South America and Mexico to seek asylum in the US.
One US official, with direct knowledge of operations who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, told Associated Press thousands of Haitians had been freed on a 'very, very large scale' in recent days.
Many have been released with notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, an outcome that requires less processing time from Border Patrol agents than ordering an appearance in immigration court and points to the speed at which authorities are moving, the official said.
The Homeland Security Department has been busing Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley along the Texas border, and this week added flights to Tucson, Arizona, the official said.
They are then processed by the Border Patrol at those locations.
A second US official, also with direct knowledge and speaking on the condition of anonymity, said large numbers of Haitians were being processed under immigration laws and not being placed on expulsion flights to Haiti that started Sunday.
The official couldn't be more specific about how many.
US authorities scrambled in recent days for buses to Tucson but resorted to flights when they couldn't find enough transportation contractors, both officials said.
Coast Guard planes also took Haitians from Del Rio to El Paso.
A third US official not authorized to discuss operations said there were seven daily flights to Haiti planned starting Wednesday.
Jean Negot Bonheur Delva, head of Haiti's national migration office, said last week authorities expected that 14,000 Haitians will be deported from the US over the next three weeks.
Delva warned that Haiti cannot handle thousands of homeless deportees arriving into the country.
The criteria for deciding who is flown to Haiti and who is released in the US was unclear.
But two US officials said single adults were the priority for expulsion flights.
The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Tuesday night.
Around 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants were camped out under the bridge at the weekend after crossing into the US
Two US officials with knowledge of the situation in Del Rio said thousands of migrants have been released into the US with notices to appear at an immigration court in 60 days' time
Joe Biden has come under fire from both sides of the political aisle over the situation in Del Rio.
In May, the Biden administration's DHS designated Haiti for temporary protected status (TPS) as the nation was in the grips of 'human rights abuses, crippling poverty, and lack of basic resources, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.'
Under TPS, foreign nationals cannot be deported back to countries hit by natural or manmade disasters, enabling Haitians to live in the US without legal status to qualify for provisional residency.
Then, in August - following the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise in July and the earthquake which killed more than 2,000 people the next month - extended and expanded the TPS further.
A statement on the Department of Homeland Security's website stipulates that the TPS rule only applies to Haitians already in the United States when the announcement was made in May, and that Haitians who subsequently tried to travel to the US would not be allowed to benefit from the new rule.
It is unclear how the United States is able to differentiate between Haitians who illegally entered the country before and after the TPS proclamation was made.
Republicans blame this pause on deportation flights for the surge in Haitians crossing into the US, arguing that this led Haitians to believe they would get asylum in America - when in fact it only applies to Haitians already residing in the US.
Democrats, meanwhile, are slamming Biden after he resumed deportation flights Sunday, sending people back to a nation that is unable to take them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded the Biden administration stop the flights and cease using Title 42 on the Senate floor Tuesday saying it defies 'common decency'.
Last Thursday, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration from using Title 42 to expel migrant families but the order takes 14 days to take effect and the administration appealed the ruling the next day.
This week, further outrage surfaced after images went viral of Border Patrol agents on horseback appearing to whip migrants with horse reins.
One video shows agents on horseback, waiting on the US side of the Rio Grande as migrants - some of them families with young children - wade through chest-deep waters trying to cross.
Officers appear to charge their horses toward the migrants carrying food and supplies, some swinging their reins, with one clip appearing to show a horse being used to push a migrant back into the water.
In one photo, a mounted agent appears to be grabbing a migrant by the shirt as he tries to flee.
Meanwhile, Mexico has begun busing and flying Haitian migrants away from the US border, authorities said Tuesday, signaling a new level of support for the US as the camp presented Biden with a humanitarian and increasingly political challenge.
Migrants - mostly from Haiti - have been camping out under the bridge after crossing from Mexico into the US
An aerial image shows the camp under Del Rio International Bride near the Rio Grande river in Texas, where the US connects to Mexico
Thousands of Haitian migrants are seen in the makeshift camp under the Del Rio bridge in Texas Tuesday awaiting processing
Migrants are seen camped out under the bridge Tuesday where around 14,000 people were said to be staying at the weekend
Migrants, many from Haiti, are seen at an encampment along the Del Rio International Bridge near the Rio Grande Tuesday
One migrant crosses the river carrying a suitcase from Del Rio, Texas, to return to Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, Monday
Mexico has helped at key moments before. It intensified patrols to stop unaccompanied Central American children from reaching the Texas border in 2014, allowed tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration courts in 2019 and, just last month, began deporting Central American migrants to Guatemala after the Biden administration flew them to southern Mexico.
Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday he had spoken with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, about the Haitians' situation.
Ebrard said most of the Haitians already had refugee status in Chile or Brazil, having fled to those countries in the wake of the 2010 earthquake, and weren't seeking it in Mexico.
'What they are asking for is to be allowed to pass freely through Mexico to the United States,' Ebrard said.
Two Mexican federal officials, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed Mexico's actions.
One of the officials said three busloads of migrants left Acuña on Tuesday morning for Piedras Negras, about 55 miles (90 kilometers) down the border, where they boarded a flight to the southern city of Villahermosa in the state of Tabasco.
The other official said there was a flight Monday from the northern city of Monterrey to the southern city of Tapachula near the Guatemala border.
Tapachula is home to the largest immigrant detention center in Latin America.
The flight carried about 100 migrants who had been picked up around the bus station in Monterrey, a hub for various routes north to the U.S. border.
The second official said the plan was to move to Tapachula all Haitians who already solicited asylum in Mexico.
The Haitian migrants who are already in Mexico's detention centers and have not requested asylum will be the first to be flown directly to Haiti once Mexico begins those flights, according to the official.
Around Ciudad Acuña, Mexican authorities were stepping up efforts to move migrants away from the border. There were detentions overnight by immigration agents and raids on hotels known to house migrants.
'All of a sudden they knocked on the door and (yelled) 'immigration,' 'police,' as if they were looking for drug traffickers,' said Freddy Registre, a 37-year-old Venezuelan staying at one hotel with his Haitian wife, Vedette Dollard. The couple was surprised at midnight.
Authorities took four people plus others who were outside the hotel, he said. 'They took our telephones to investigate and took us to the immigration offices, took our photos,' Registre said.
They were held overnight but finally were given their phones back and released. Authorities gave them two options: leave Mexico or return to Tapachula.
On Tuesday afternoon, they decided to leave town. They bought tickets for a bus ride to the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, planning to continue to Tapachula where they had already applied for asylum.
Others left without being told.
Small groups arrived at Ciudad Acuña´s bus station to buy tickets to Veracruz, Monterrey and Mexico City.
The same bus lines prohibited from selling them tickets for rides north through Mexico, sold them tickets to head south without issue.
In Haiti, dozens of migrants upset about being deported from the US tried to rush back into a plane that landed Tuesday afternoon in Port-au-Prince as they yelled at authorities.
A security guard closed the plane door in time as some deportees began throwing rocks and shoes at the plane. Several of them lost their belongings in the scuffle as police arrived.
The group was disembarking from one of three flights scheduled for the day.
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