The US Border Patrol filmed whipping migrants gathering water

September 21, 2021 1:44 PM

On the 243rd day of Biden's presidency and the 244th day of a Democratically controlled Congress, US Border Patrol agents were filmed whipping Haitian migrants gathering water. Days earlier, the Biden administration vowed to increase deportation efforts targeting these same refugees

Following the Biden administrations announcement that deportation efforts would be increased, it was reported that 600 additional US Customs and Border Protection personnel were sent to this area of the border in order to facilitate a safe, humane and orderly process.

Temperatures in Del Rio have been above 100 degrees for the majority of September.

Media has been blocked by US Border Patrol from crossing back and forth between the border in order to report on the state of the refugee camp. The total number of refugees living in this camp is estimated to be around 13,000.

There have been multiple (1 2 3) calls for the Biden administration to revise federal policies related to immigration including a strong letter to administration that was signed by over a hundred different groups.

Unfortunately, abuses at the border by US officials have a long, historical legacy with the most recent spate of abuses being tracked by United We Dream (Internet Archive link). Many of these abuses occurred during Biden's last stint in the White House, during which the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties may have vastly underreported official complaints. From the October 2015 report,

The disparity between complaints CRCL receives and complaints it reports is striking. In its FY 2014 report to Congress, CRCL reported only two “complaints opened” involving Fourth Amendment violations by CBP nationwide—the same period in which the agency received the ACLU’s complaints describing more than a dozen allegations of unlawful search and seizure and other violations by Border Patrol in Arizona alone. In its FY 2013 report, CRCL disclosed zero Fourth Amendment complaints involving CBP, nationwide. For FY 2012, CRCL reported only three such complaints.

By contrast, the records provided to the ACLU to date—representing just half of the records requested and only two of Border Patrol’s 20 sectors—describe at least 134 complaints recorded by DHS oversight agencies describing potential Fourth Amendment violations, including numerous false canine alerts resulting in prolonged detention and warrantless searches. Complete statistics for all 20 Border Patrol sectors, if made publicly available, would reveal many additional abuse allegations that are never publicly disclosed.

Part of this may be due to a culture which doesn't prioritize accountability as much as it does racism. The report detailing issues with CBP policies should be familiar to Biden with there having been an internal review by an independent board of CBP policies in 2013.

In better news, Kamala Harris was reported as having recently toured a 'border spot' 800 miles away from what the Border Patrol union representative said was a 'hot zone.' It is, however, only 424 miles away from Del Rio, where these most recent abuses were documented.

Additionally, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki issued a strong, moral condemnation of these actions, saying "I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate. I don't have the full context [but] I can't imagine what context would make that appropriate."

posted by paimapi (40 comments total)

While I'm hoping for actual action and not just lip service, I'm thankful Jen Psaki would say that.
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:48 PM on September 21, 2021 [8 favorites]

There are a number of planned, nationwide actions by the Detention Watch Network occurring in two days. They are taking registrations here if you'd like to "participate in an in-person action at a local ICE field office or detention center, Twitterstorm at 1pm ET and/or participate in the phonebanking."

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration also has a rapid response kit prepared here which has prompts for Tweets and calls to your electeds.

Recently, an attempt to pass major immigration reform was blocked by the first female Senate Parliamentarian (who was appointed in 2012 by Harry Reid), former immigration attorney and total girlboss Elizabeth MacDonough. Ilhan Omar has not been a big fan of hers and MacDonough may have a bit of a tilt when it comes to her legal findings.
posted by paimapi at 2:16 PM on September 21, 2021 [8 favorites]

We’ve just lost 675,000 people to COVID-19, let the Haitians come. Let the Afghans come. Let the Central Americans come.
posted by cali at 2:28 PM on September 21, 2021 [23 favorites]

when it comes to her legal findings

The Parliamentarian doesn't provide legal findings, they interpret the rules the Senate has set up.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 2:28 PM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

CBP needs to be abolished. It's a thoroughly corrupt organization.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:36 PM on September 21, 2021 [21 favorites]

In better news, Kamala Harris was reported as having recently toured a 'border spot' 800 miles away from what the Border Patrol union representative said was a 'hot zone.' It is, however, only 424 miles away from Del Rio, where these most recent abuses were documented.

Kamala Harris, With Blunt Language on Border, Forges Immigration Image

But it was her comments on migration — telling migrants in Guatemala, “do not come” — that prompted a new round of criticism. Immigration advocates accused the vice president of undermining immigration law and Mr. Biden’s pledge to restore an asylum-processing system at the southwest border.
. . .As crossings of unaccompanied minors and teenagers have soared this year, the Biden administration has relied on an emergency rule instituted by President Donald J. Trump that empowers border agents to rapidly turn away migrants without providing them a chance to apply for asylum. Put in place after the coronavirus outbreak, the order justifies the expulsions as a health measure intended to stop the virus from spreading.

Under U.S. immigration law, migrants are entitled to ask for protection once they step on American soil.

The continued use of the rule, Title 42, has prompted criticism from immigration lawyers, former officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the administration’s own medical consultants.

As a senator, Ms. Harris had once questioned the legality of the border policy. She signed a letter with fellow Democrats that accused the Trump administration of “misinterpreting its limited authorities” by using the rule to turn away asylum seekers.

“Why is this administration telling asylum seekers to stay home when we have a moral and legal duty to give those in danger an opportunity to seek refuge,” asked Lee Gelernt, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing the administration over its practice of turning migrants away. “Hopefully domestic politics is not a driving force because asylum must operate outside of politics.”

posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 2:43 PM on September 21, 2021 [5 favorites]

“The Parliamentarian” is the most amazing thing in US politics. Oh sure we won the election but we can’t do that stuff we promised because we appointed someone to tell us we couldn’t. This isn’t a political party, it’s a multilevel marketing scam.
posted by moorooka at 3:00 PM on September 21, 2021 [29 favorites]

an attempt to pass major immigration reform was blocked by the first female Senate Parliamentarian

More accurately, an attempt to pretend that major immigration reform (and like a million other things) is "budget reconciliation" was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian.
posted by Hatashran at 3:00 PM on September 21, 2021 [4 favorites]

Just a reminder that Vice President Harris — as Senate presiding officer — can technically just dismiss the Senate Parliamentarian opinion on immigration in $3.5T infrastructure package and keep it included

Any Democrat using the Parlimentarian as an excuse is just straight-up lying to you.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 3:05 PM on September 21, 2021 [32 favorites]

Per Wikipedia: The role of the parliamentary staff is advisory, and the Presiding Officer may overrule the advice of the parliamentarian. In practice, this is rare; the most recent example of a Vice President (as President of the Senate) overruling the parliamentarian was Nelson Rockefeller in 1975. That ruling was extremely controversial, to such an extent that the leaders of both parties immediately met and agreed that they did not want this precedent to stand, so the next week the Senate altered the rule under consideration via standard procedure.

Can they even get non-budgetary items in? If there's an objection under the Byrd rule it requires a 60 vote majority to preserve the item anyway right?
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:54 PM on September 21, 2021

Followed the link. Watched the video at the top. Is there another video? I’m looking for the whips.
posted by ericales at 3:58 PM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

They don't have whips; they're using the romal on the end of their reins like you might when driving cattle.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:43 PM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]

(I hope it's obvious that's just as violent and offensive as using a whip, but I'm putting this here in case anyone thinks I'm downplaying what these people are being subjected to.)
posted by oneirodynia at 5:00 PM on September 21, 2021 [5 favorites]

If you walk into the country, and you want to stay, you should get to stay. That's all there is to it. Want to be a citizen? Awesome, you're a citizen. Enjoy.
posted by one for the books at 6:48 PM on September 21, 2021 [10 favorites]

They are not whipping people. They're riding Western, using split reins.
posted by tgrundke at 7:22 PM on September 21, 2021

Every cowboy here wants to explain how it's just, you know, reins. Brutal, but not whips.
posted by valkane at 7:27 PM on September 21, 2021 [11 favorites]

More accurately, an attempt to pretend that major immigration reform (and like a million other things) is "budget reconciliation" was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian.

Blocked by an appointee who could easily be replaced with someone else who would not block it. Exactly. The job of the Democratic Party is to allow the Republicans to govern the country, whether in majority or minority. It could not be more transparent.
posted by moorooka at 7:32 PM on September 21, 2021 [10 favorites]

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

But should you not come in from o'er the sea
and wade instead across our southern border,
We'll send the thugs that we call Law and Order
To whip you in the face until you flee.
The point, as always, is the cruelty;
It's those whose life is hardest we hit harder
Because our shrivelled racist hearts fear murder
Whene'er a darker skin than ours we see.

We didn't steal the land in which we live
From those who were here first in order to
Allow just anybody to move in!
Don't ever think that we're about to give
Away a piece of what we stole to you.
That plaque? It's only advertising spin.
posted by flabdablet at 8:33 PM on September 21, 2021 [13 favorites]

Seems to me if you're whipping someone with it it's a whip. Not that they needed them; cavalry charges are terrifying all by themselves. Less obviously mediapathic though.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 9:02 PM on September 21, 2021 [10 favorites]

Haitian Bridge (U.S. based nonprofit group) has been excoriating the Biden Administration for its truly appalling deportations. From 14 hours ago: "Four expulsion flights are being sent to Haiti right now. Three more are scheduled to go out today." I donated to Haitian Bridge today, to help amplify their work in some small way.

Hours after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake, President Joe Biden released a statement saying that the United States was a 'friend" of Haiti. A 'friend' does not continuously inflict pain on another friend," said Guerline Jozef (Sept 16).

posted by spamandkimchi at 9:50 PM on September 21, 2021 [5 favorites]

From UnDocuBlack Network today, tweeting a Washington Post article:

Deportees land in Port-au-Prince: ‘Nobody told us we were going back to Haiti’
“We saw people drown in the river,” Piard said. Her husband and their children, ages 10, 8 and 7, had spent five days sleeping under a bridge in Texas.

posted by spamandkimchi at 9:52 PM on September 21, 2021 [3 favorites]

They are not whipping people. They're riding Western, using split reins.

They were using their split reins to whip at people, which was gross to see.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:03 AM on September 22, 2021 [8 favorites]

tgrundke, I had an ex-girlfriend who competed in English riding. She had friends who rode hunter and Western, and I have a rough understanding of split reins, which do seem to have their advantages in competition and in trail riding.

However, I have not heard of the technique whereby you spin the reins around in the air next to you like in this photo or this recording. When I search for split rein techniques, like those featured in a column here, it sounds like limiting the probability that your reins become tangled is actually preferred.

I am, however, not a rider, nor have I attended any Western-style competitions. My ex had made it fairly clear to me that some of the training methods Western-style employs are generally regarded as inhumane and unnecessarily cruel, like the use of spurs, draw reins, or the focus on 'Western pleasure' which implies a completely 'broken' horse that submits to every command. Her opinion was that for the purposes of 'practical' riding, there are more humane styles of training and riding though these may involve some amount of skill and well-researched training, something that I suspect is much more normalized in competition circuits than inside of the Border Patrol.

I am interested in knowing the justification for the use of split reins in the way mentioned above, however. Does it keep the flies away? Perhaps it's being used to cool off the riders, who are wearing cumbersome body armor? I've heard that some riders also use these split reins to whip a horse who is acting, as they say, 'stoopid'. Is that not your understanding? Perhaps being pedantic with the language here (ie the difference between 'whips' and 'things being used in the same function as whips') helps the debate about human rights violations. Can you clarify?
posted by paimapi at 11:00 AM on September 22, 2021 [3 favorites]

Mike Duncan:

It's only a whip if it comes from the whip region of France, otherwise it's merely a sparkling slender implement used to thrash people

posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 12:46 PM on September 22, 2021 [14 favorites]

And despite this, my Facebook feed is still full of Trumpists insisting that all of our problems are due to Biden and Harris somehow "opening the border". I really don't understand why so many Democratic leaders think these mole people can be appeased. The Republican base will criticize Biden no matter what he does (for example, someone I knew excoriated him for going to the 9/11 memorial observance, but I am sure she would have been equally critical had he not attended). Just do the right thing and the the chips (and votes) fall where they may. If that means the Republicans win the elections and take over, then that just means our turn is over and other countries can take over the role of superpower.
posted by TedW at 3:46 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

However, I have not heard of the technique whereby you spin the reins around in the air next to you like in this photo or this recording. When I search for split rein techniques, like those featured in a column here, it sounds like limiting the probability that your reins become tangled is actually preferred.


As I said in my comment above meant to clarify why someone might not see a "whip" in photos or video, the riders are using a romal*. this is a a lash and popper attached to the end of closed reins. It replaces a separate hand-held quirt that cowboys used to drive cattle. A romal is in fact a type of whip, just not the handheld lash that people often associate with the word.

The technique used is a cattle driving technique. These "officers" on horseback should have been fired and charged with assault. It's a disgusting act of inhumane violence.

*source: me, a former western rider.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:07 PM on September 22, 2021 [9 favorites]

This is disappointing and troubling for several reasons:
DHS seeks contractor to run migrant detention facility at Gitmo, guards who speak Haitian Creole
Guantanamo has long included a DHS immigration holding facility, which has previously used to hold Haitian migrants.

1) Expanding the use of the American base at Guantanamo, which the US really shouldn't have in the first place;
2) Preparing to intern more migrants;
3) An obvious attempt to make an end-run around the US Constitution by keeping people in a place that kind of is and isn't US territory;
4) Doing stupid stuff like this as though that execrable man were still President when so many people wanted the new administration to do better.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:46 PM on September 22, 2021 [4 favorites]

Special envoy to Haiti resigns citing 'inhumane' US decision to deport thousands of Haitians from US border

Maybe now Biden and Harris will start to understand how awful this and do something more than send white women to the networks claiming "this isn't us." Which, to be clear, is a huge fucking lie and has been for eight fucking months.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 6:23 AM on September 23, 2021 [6 favorites]

Oof.

NYTimes link

In his stinging resignation letter, Mr. Foote criticized the Biden administration for deporting some of the thousands of the Haitian migrants who had traveled to the Texas border from Mexico and Central America in recent days.

“I will not be associated with the United States’ inhumane, counterproductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti, a country where American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life,” Mr. Foote wrote in the letter, which was first reported by PBS NewsHour. Its authenticity was confirmed by a senior State Department official and a congressional official.

Mr. Foote was said to have pushed for greater oversight and responsibilities in his job as envoy to Haiti, efforts that were rejected by senior State Department officials.

In his resignation letter, Mr. Foote confirmed that “my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed.”
posted by fortitude25 at 7:24 AM on September 23, 2021 [7 favorites]

Elie Mystal in The Nation: Biden Wasn’t Elected to Scold Racist Border Agents—He Was Elected to Stop Them

Also Mystal on Twitter today:

Biden apologists: They’re stopping mounted patrols (today…instead of 8 months ago) so they’re trying (now, kinda, that they were caught on camera)
Me: THEY’RE FIRING THE HORSES AND NOT THE RACISTS WHO RODE THEM.— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) September 23, 2021

posted by Joe in Australia at 2:27 PM on September 23, 2021 [3 favorites]

Looks to me like the agent was grabbing the Haitian by the shirt, not whipping him: https://twitter.com/i/status/1441450559995736069
posted by tgrundke at 6:46 AM on September 25, 2021

There are multiple pictures, involving multiple agents as well as refugees. Some of them clearly involve whipping. Grabbing at someone’s shirt from horseback runs the risk of trampling the person, so isn’t exactly better, but also, why would you want to come across as minimizing or apologizing for obviously racist, abusive, and abhorrent behaviour? “I quibble with the exact wording to describe this” is incommensurate with “I don’t care what the f&@! you call it, that’s indefensible, unacceptable behaviour.”
posted by eviemath at 9:37 AM on September 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Perhaps because they’re trying to enter the country illegally. Try this in Canada or
Europe and see how it works out for you.
posted by tgrundke at 4:54 PM on September 26, 2021

Not that it should really matter, and especially not in the case of a country as directly fucked over by the US as Haiti, but people seeking asylum in the US are not trying to enter the country illegally.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 5:06 PM on September 26, 2021 [8 favorites]

Try this in Canada or Europe and see how it works out for you.

I'm old, literally a graybeard. "Those other guys did it too" is as crappy an excuse today as it was when I could only grow peach fuzz. Especially when you're using it to justify violence and degradation targeting the powerless.
posted by Lyme Drop at 5:24 PM on September 26, 2021 [5 favorites]

people seeking asylum in the US are not trying to enter the country illegally.

This cannot be emphasised enough. The US is a signatory to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees :

This means that it is bound to apply the Convention’s provisions, which commit it to treating refugees in accordance with internationally recognized legal and humanitarian standards. These include respecting the principle of non-refoulement – that is, not sending refugees to a place where they are at risk of persecution, or to a country which might send them to such a place; providing refugees with a legal status, including rights such as access to employment, education and social security; and not punishing refugees for entering ‘illegally’ – that is, without a passport or visa.

The US tries to minimise its obligations under this protocol by artificially limiting the parts of its territory that “count” for purposes of entry, or by refusing to acknowledge requests for asylum, or by confusing and deceiving refugees as to their rights. When all this fails they frankly act lawlessly and do not respect their obligations at all. It’s deplorable.

N.B. I know Australia is no better and may actually be worse; don’t tu quoque me.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:06 PM on September 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

Perhaps because they’re trying to enter the country illegally. Try this in Canada or Europe and see how it works out for you.

(a) What the actual fuck. What an inhuman, inhumane, and overall shitty comment to make. It is my opinion that you should be ashamed of yourself as a human being.

(b) No. Canada certainly has its own issues, but trampling and whipping asylum seekers isn’t one of them.

(c) Just No.
posted by eviemath at 4:25 AM on September 27, 2021 [3 favorites]

Perhaps because they’re trying to enter the country illegally. Try this in Canada or Europe and see how it works out for you.

Interesting take.

Counterpoint: ALL federal "immigration law" is unconstitutional since:

(1) the 9th and 10th Amendments mean that there is no plenary power, all legitimate authority MUST be delegated by Article 1, Section 8 (Powers of Congress) and

(2) The Framers -- having open borders -- never gave Congress the authority to regulate where Free People choose to travel and reside.

Thus all immigrants are "legal" immigrants.
posted by mikelieman at 5:07 AM on September 27, 2021 [4 favorites]

The US tries to minimise its obligations under this protocol by artificially limiting the parts of its territory that “count” for purposes of entry

I believe that's a move they learned from us, Australia having mastered the astonishing magic trick of excising the entire Australian mainland from its own migration zone.
posted by flabdablet at 6:37 AM on September 27, 2021

Try this in Canada or Europe and see how it works out for you.

What the actual fuck? In the wake of the 2015 migrant crisis, Germany alone processed over 1.4M asylum requests from migrants. It was one of the key fulcrum points of Merkel's Chancellorship; it put her in considerable political jeopardy. And say what you will about Germany's execution of the asylum process; it was at least broadly consistent with their international legal obligations. Canada typically processes about 50,000 asylum seekers a year, most of who walk across the border with the US. They do not turn away these people with horse-mounted border police.

Perhaps your acceptance of your own country's disgusting practices is informed by an utter ignorance of the rest of the world.
posted by mr_roboto at 7:34 PM on September 27, 2021 [6 favorites]