Last year, President Joe Biden accused mounted Border Patrol agents of whipping Haitian migrants along the banks of the Rio Grande.
As Fox News pointed out this week, Biden still has yet to apologize for the damning allegations despite them having been shown to be false.
The investigation found “no evidence” migrants were whipped
“To see people treated like they did, horses barely running over, people being strapped — it’s outrageous,” Fox News quoted the president as telling reporters in September of 2021.
“I promise you, those people will pay,” the president continued, adding, “There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences.”
However, Fox News reported in July that an inquiry by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Professional Responsibility “found no evidence Border Patrol agents involved in this incident struck anyone with their reins intentionally or otherwise.”
The report did find that one agent used offensive language and another maneuvered his horse around a child in “an unsafe manner.” Agents were also criticized for making use of an “unmoderated” tactical radio and lacking sufficient training before the incident.
Union head says “agents are very hesitant to do their jobs”
Brandon Judd serves as head of the National Border Patrol Council, and he complained that the investigation was politically tainted.
“Those investigators, they are executive branch employees,” Judd was quoted as telling Fox News Digital in an interview on Saturday.
“Their boss — and when I say their boss, the president of the United States, their boss — had already condemned those agents. They had to find something wrong,” he said.
Brandon went on to add that the president’s allegations have had a lingering impact on agency morale, saying, “We’re still feeling that impact today.”
“Border Patrol agents are very hesitant to do their jobs, knowing that they could be accused by the most powerful man in the world of a crime,” he insisted.