Mayorkas Knew Migrant Incident Could Be Fake — Reported on It Anyway
(TheRedWire.com) – On September 20, 2021, a photographer captured images of four Border Patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian immigrants as they attempted to enter the country through the southern border illegally. Days later, President Joe Biden said the pictures were “outrageous” and that agents nearly ran over people with the horses and used straps in a whipping motion. He stated there would be consequences for their actions. Hours after the president’s statement, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Public Affairs Marsha Espinosa emailed Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with a contradictory account of what happened. Still, Mayorkas went with the president’s false narrative.
Fox News recently reported the email, which Espinosa copied to other DHS leaders, stated a news article revealed the photographer said he did not see any whippings. Two hours later, Mayorkas appeared with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki and pushed the false story anyway. He called the agents’ actions “horrifying” and declared the pictures demonstrated the worst in America’s battle “against systemic racism.”
NEW w/@BillFOXLA: DHS Sec. Mayorkas was told that there was no whipping of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol agents — hours before he attended a WH press conference where he failed to challenge the debunked narrative.https://t.co/MfRcKppyPH
— Adam Shaw (@AdamShawNY) October 12, 2022
National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told Fox News the email was a “smoking gun.” He stated Biden and Mayorkas lied and withheld facts, and he called on the Secretary to resign. An investigation reported there was no evidence agents struck the migrants and noted they were not carrying whips. Instead, they used long reins to control the horses.
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