In September 2021, when a Border Patrol agent on horseback was falsely accused of whipping a Haitian migrant in Texas, Vice President Kamala Harris jumped on the bandwagon and slammed the agents, claiming that photos of the incident were a reminder of America’s history of slavery.
“Human beings shouldn’t be treated like that,” Harris said. He spoke to “The View” days after the controversy became national news.“It also conjured up images of some of the worst moments in our nation’s history, acts that have been committed against our nation’s Native people and against African-Americans during slavery.”
The allegation that Border Patrol agents whipped black migrants was debunked both by the photographer who took the controversial photo and by a subsequent official investigation by Customs and Border Protection.
But Harris, tasked with stemming a historically high influx of migrants crossing the U.S. border, did not retract or apologize for her earlier comments.
And Border Patrol agents haven’t forgotten what the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee said.
A Border Patrol officer working in the area where the incident occurred told the Post that Harris’ comments were a “slander” of the Border Patrol.
A representative who was not authorized to speak publicly said Harris “is not going to apologize because it doesn’t fit the narrative.”
“We’re tired of them not caring about us at all,” the agent said.
A second border patrol officer told The Post that the false accusations had made at least one officer’s life “hell.”
“I am convinced that if Kamala becomes president, the crisis will erupt again.”
As images of Border Patrol agents on horseback being overwhelmed by the roughly 14,000 Haitian migrants who had arrived in Del Rio, Texas, began circulating in the media, several Biden administration officials and Democratic lawmakers began jumping on the argument that Border Patrol agents were cracking down on illegal border crossers.
Months later, in July 2022, that claim officially collapsed when an investigation found no floggings had been administered. The investigation also stated that riding attendants “engaged in unprofessional or unsafe conduct, and in one instance one attendant used derogatory and offensive language.”
“The whip is not part of Border Patrol training or equipment,” then-CBP Acting Commissioner Chris Magnus said at the time.
As Harris prepares to face off against former President Donald Trump in November, her past on border policy and immigration is resurfacing.
Republican attacks have focused on Harris’ role in the Biden administration as “border czar” tasked with addressing the “root causes of migration” in Central America amid record illegal crossings at the southern border.
In addition to her comments about the Border Patrol; Harris’ 2018 statement likened ICE agents to the KKK Her comments are coming back to haunt her. They were made while Senator Harris was questioning Ronald Vitiello, then Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, when she claimed there was a “perception” that there were similarities between the agency and the KKK.
