Samuel Case, FISM News
Seven House Republicans are demanding the release of the Biden administration’s investigation into allegations that Texas border patrol agents were whipping Haitian migrants while they attempted to illegally enter the United States.
In September, photos circulated depicting border agents on horseback alongside a report from the El Paso Times describing an “agent menacingly [swinging] his reins like a whip.” However, the photographer who took the pictures, Paul Ratje, denied that agents were using their reins as a whip.
“I’ve never seen them whip anyone,” Ratje said. “He was swinging it, but it can be misconstrued when you’re looking at the picture.”
In response the White House said it was ending Border Patrol’s use of horses and Biden announced, “There will be an investigation underway now and there will be consequences.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at the time said the investigation would take “days, not weeks.”
Four months have passed since the investigation was launched and now the Washington Examiner reports that the details may never be released, according to comments from DHS officials.
“I doubt that the current administration will release this report on the horse patrol incident because it makes the administration look terrible,” one official told the Examiner. “They essentially convicted the mounted agents based upon a lie, which the investigation after 120 days would surely have revealed.”
“My experience would be that this would have been done within a period of weeks,” the official continued, telling the Examiner that no agent has been disciplined over the incident.
Reacting to these anonymous comments, the group of Republicans wrote a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas requesting the official findings of his investigation.
“For four months, the Biden Administration and your Department have gone without even apologizing to the agents that were smeared. To make matters worse, reports now indicate that the investigational report DHS was conducting on the incident will likely never appear.” the lawmakers wrote.
The American people deserve transparency from their government, and the United States Border Patrol deserves defense from their Department’s Secretary against unfounded accusations.
In November it was revealed that the DHS Inspector General chose not to investigate the whipping charges, leaving the responsibility with the Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
DHS said at the time that it “remains committed to conducting a thorough, independent, and objective investigation,” adding, “DHS will share information, as available, consistent with the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and individuals’ privacy.”