A reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation explained Monday how claims that United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents whipped migrants fell apart during an appearance on One America News Network (OANN).
“The mainstream media and Democratic lawmakers ran with this narrative that has now been completely debunked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which did its own internal investigation into the matter and found that there was no whipping,” Jennie Taer, an investigative reporter for the DCNF, told “In Focus” host Addison Smith. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: CBP Chief Tries To Reassure The Rank-And-File As Agency Levels Charges Against ‘Whipgate’ Agents)
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“We’re waiting to hear apologies from these folks, maybe some recanting of statements,” Taer told Smith.
The incident in question occurred in September 2021, when CBP agents tried to prevent Haitian migrants from making their way to an encampment in Del Rio, Texas, and prompted a media firestorm.
Many Democratic politicians, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, demanded the agents be punished, and the Biden administration ended the use of horses by CBP in Del Rio. Reporters on the scene and experts disputed claims that the agents whipped the migrants.
Harris and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California claimed that the images of the CBP agents brought back images of slavery. MSNBC host Joy Reid and Vice News also alleged that whips were used by the CBP agents.
The Department of Homeland Security reportedly cleared the agents of criminal wrongdoing in April. Agents could face two administrative charges over their actions during the September incident.
“The claim is that migrants were being instructed to turn back to Mexico, and that is one of the charges we obtained,” Taer said. “Another is for maneuvering the horse in a way that caused a migrant to fall back into the water – into the Rio Grande.”
CBP referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to a statement released Friday summarizing the findings of the investigation. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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