In a 511-page report released Friday by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, officials said they found no evidence that Border Patrol agents hit immigrants with their reins, but said there was “unnecessary use of force.” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in September strongly condemned the actions captured on video. A video captured an officer’s horse attacking one of the migrants, who fell backwards and into the water. This video showed officers at the water’s edge, twirling long leashes as migrants crossed the border on the US shoreline of the Rio Grande.
“It’s horrible what you saw,” Biden said at the time, adding: “I promise you: these people will pay … There’s an investigation going on right now and there will be consequences.”
On Friday, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus acknowledged “failures to make good decisions” at various levels of the agency.
“The report showed that there were failures to make good decisions at many levels of the organization,” Magnus said in a statement. “The failure to maintain command and control of the Horse Patrol Units, the lack of proper policies and training, and the general chaotic nature of the situation in Del Rio at the time contributed to the incident. Several officers engaged in unprofessional or dangerous behavior, including one incident in which an agent used degrading and insulting language.”
A Border Patrol agent “acted in an unprofessional manner by yelling comments about an immigrant’s ethnicity and gender, stating in part, ‘Hey! Do you use your wives? This is why your country is broken, you are using your women for it,” the report says.
The same officer also “acted in a dangerous manner by pursuing the person he had yelled at along the edge of the river, forcing his horse to make tight maneuvers around a small child on a sloping concrete ramp.”
The case was also referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas as a formality, officials said Friday. The US attorney’s office declined to prosecute.
Immigrant overflow in Del Rio
Since the beginning of the Biden administration, officials have faced a growing number of arrivals at the US-Mexico border amid mass migration to the Western Hemisphere. Within days last September, the administration was caught by surprise when thousands of immigrants — mostly Haitians — converged on Del Rio.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility — which is charged with investigating alleged misconduct by CBP employees — released the results of its investigation Friday. The office reviewed video and photos and interviewed witnesses, employees and CBP leadership, according to senior agency officials.
The report focuses on Sept. 19, when, over the course of about 30 minutes, Border Patrol agents on horseback and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety tried to break up a large group of immigrants gathered in the Rio Grande.
During that time, there was a period of about 15 minutes when authorities tried to stop the flow of immigrants, resulting in a standoff between agents and immigrants, senior CBP officials told reporters Friday. Senior officials said one agent acted in an unprofessional manner by shouting comments and using profanity.
A horse patrol unit from another border patrol station in Texas had been deployed a day earlier to help, according to officials who said those agents had not worked with horses in some time. The investigation found that the horse patrol unit at the scene acted at the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, which, according to the findings, conflicted with the Border Patrol’s goals. Agents received approval from their supervisor, who received no additional guidance from leadership.
Officials acknowledged Friday the unprecedented conditions facing the Border Patrol last September, noting that the arrival of thousands of people in a remote area of the Texas-Mexico border posed operational challenges.
As a result, migrants were allowed to cross back and forth into Mexico to get water and food as agents tried to process people. Some of those migrants who crossed the river for necessities were involved in the September 19 incident.
Although the migrants were “within the territorial boundaries of the United States,” the report said, mounted agents “used force or the threat of force to drive the migrants back to the Rio Grande River” despite not threatening the agents. “Instead, they were trying to enter or return to the United States, some carrying tickets previously issued by the USBP and many with food for their families.”
The investigation found no evidence that any immigrants were ultimately denied entry to the United States or beaten with horse reins.
“There is no evidence that the BPAs involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any immigrant with their reins,” CBP found. “The horses involved in this incident were equipped with broken reins, which can be twirled by the rider to guide the horse’s movements. A BPA involved in this incident also reported that twirling these broken reins is a distancing tactic.”
Magnus said CBP is already reviewing policies regarding the use of mounted patrol units and strengthening command and control during large-scale operations.
CBP had also referred the incident to the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, who declined to investigate last year.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
