[ad_1]
The head of the border patrol union accuses the Biden administration of using a controversy over mounted agents blocking Haitian migrants to “deviate” from his own handling of the border crisis, while claiming that the fury is ” completely and utterly demoralizing “for officers.
“They know what’s going on under the bridge is very embarrassing for them, so they’re trying to deviate,” Brandon Judd, head of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News in an interview. “It is the administration that is trying to turn away from its failures that led to the disaster unfolding under the bridge.”
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION STOPPERS BORDER PATROL FROM USING HORSES IN DEL RIO AMID THE DEM OUTRAGE
United States Customs and Border Protection officers attempt to contain the migrants as they cross the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo / Félix Marquez)
(AP Photo / Felix Marquez)
Judd was referring to a controversy, fueled mainly by liberal activists and Democratic lawmakers, over images that emerged Sunday of border patrol agents preventing migrants from Del Rio from entering the United States.
Agents have been sent to the area to fight the surge, which saw more than 14,000 migrants camped under the bridge last week, and led the administration to increase deportation flights. Judd previously said that Border Patrol warned the administration of the potential crisis months ago, but no action was taken.
After the images appeared, some falsely claimed that the agents in the images were using “whips” to hit migrants, a narrative echoed by a number of Democrats. Meanwhile, the White House has called the footage “gruesome and gruesome” while Vice President Kamala Harris called for an investigation and called the footage “disturbing.”
But Judd pointed out what was misidentified by many in the media and on Capitol Hill as “whips” were in fact long reins, which are used to control the horse in rivers, and said no migrant was born. ‘had been hit or injured during the incident.
BORDER PATROL OFFICERS FACING DEMOCRATIC ATTACKS TRANSFORMED TO OFFICE DUTIES DURING AN INVESTIGATION
“What they were holding were reins, it was not whips, these reins are used to control horses,” he said. “The officers must also protect the migrants from the horses that they cannot let them shut down if they try and so they will turn the reins in their hands, but they do not hit them and none of these migrants have been hit. by an object, still less by a whip or a rein “
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas initially appeared to refute claims made by some in the media on Monday as she stood alongside border patrol leader Raul Ortiz – who noted the use of long reins and how they were used. are needed to control the horse.
But on Tuesday, after the White House intervened, Mayorkas said the footage “deeply disturbed me.” The officers involved have since been assigned clerical duties as the investigation continues. Judd said he was not surprised by Mayorkas’ change in attitude.
September 20, 2021: U.S. Border Patrol officers observe Haitian immigrants on the shore of the Rio Grande in Del Rio, Texas, as seen from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. (Photo by John Moore / Getty Images)
((Photo by John Moore / Getty Images))
“He has to follow the line or he’s out of a job, so of course he’s going to say what the White House wants him to say once they make their official statement,” he said.
Later on Thursday afternoon, the White House announced that Mayorkas had told civil rights leaders that the use of horses by border patrols was suspended in the Del Rio area.
Judd told Fox News ahead of the announcement that he welcomed an investigation because he believes it will show officers did nothing wrong.
HARRIS “DEEPLY TROUBLE” BY IMAGES OF BORDER PATROL OFFICERS ON MIGRANTS BLOCKING ON HORSES, OFFICERS RESPOND
“I know this will show that there is no wrongdoing, that there has been no violation of the policy, they have not hit any of the migrants, none of the migrants have been injured in this incident and they were deployed to do exactly what they did, they underwent their training, the same training being given to all mounted patrol officers under the Biden administration, ”he said .
Further, he highlighted the dangers facing the border patrol, noting recent violent episodes of migrants on both a transport bus and an expulsion flight, and that officers were sandwiched between a migrant camp behind them and a number of migrants in front of them.
“In the police, where the officers are the most injured or even killed, it’s in an instant, everything happens very, very quickly, so when you are in the application posture, you have to be quick, you have to be decisive and you have to take the appropriate action and in this case they have taken the necessary action, ”he said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Several border patrol officers spoke to Fox News, expressing dismay at the administration’s response to the controversy. Judd said the incident prompts officers, who work 10 hours a day and six days a week in many cases, to wonder why they put on the uniform.
“When you don’t have the support of your leadership, you wonder why you are working,” he said. “It’s the White House, it’s the President of the United States, and when you’re criticized for doing the job you’re supposed to do, it becomes completely and utterly demoralizing.”
Fox News’ Peter Hasson contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link