Haitian migrants should receive humane treatment

The scenes of U.S. border patrol agents riding on horseback twirling their long leather reins in a menacing way at Haitian migrants attempting to cross the U.S. southern border was horrifying.

Wearing cowboy hats and brandishing whips, border patrol agents are seen on video maneuvering their horses to forcibly block and move migrants, almost seeming to herd them like cattle. Agents are heard taunting migrants, who left their native country, which while rich in culture and history has suffered through natural disasters and political chaos.

While the border must be protected, U.S. Customs and Border Protection mounted officers were overly aggressive in attempting to contain migrants as they crossed the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas. Thousands of Haitian migrants have been arriving to Del Rio, Texas, as authorities attempt to close the border to stop the flow of migrants. The U.S. is flying Haitians camped at the Texas border town back to their homeland and trying to block others from crossing the border from Mexico.

The Biden administration deserves the strong rebuke it received after images of U.S. border patrol agents on horseback using aggressive tactics went viral.

Congressional Democrats are right in calling on the Biden administration to end its use of a pandemic-era authority to deport migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum in the United States.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson called the treatment of the Haitian migrants “utterly sickening.”

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz sought to downplay the incidents telling the reporters that the agents were working in a difficult and chaotic environment. But that’s no excuse for the agents’ harsh mistreatment of Haitian migrants.

Republicans say the Biden administration policies led Haitians to believe they would get asylum. There is absolutely no evidence for those assertions. Republicans are attempting to politicize the humanitarian crisis.

The migrants appeared to have been driven by confusion over the Biden administration’s policies and misinformation on social media. 

The crisis has been years in the making.

Haitians have been migrating to the U.S. in large numbers from South America for several years, many having left their Caribbean nation after a devastating 2010 earthquake. Haiti also is struggling to recover from the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in mid-August.

The crisis reached a peak this month after almost 15,000 migrants had gathered on the border.

In response to scenes of the harsh treatment of migrants at the border, the Biden administration has banned the use of horses in Del Rio, Texas and the administration’s special envoy to Haiti has resigned, protesting "inhumane" large-scale expulsions of Haitian migrants to their homeland, a country facing floods, food shortages, violence and political instability.

Daniel Foote wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he was stepping down immediately “with deep disappointment and apologies to those seeking crucial changes.”

“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 to daily life,” he wrote. “Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my policy recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.”

State Department spokesman Ned Price disputed Foote’s assertion, saying his proposals had been “fully considered in a rigorous and transparent policy process.”

Meanwhile, Haiti attempts to recover from natural disasters, violence and the COVID-19 pandemic – factors that drove Haitians to migrate in the first place.

Yet mass amnesty if not feasible, but neither is mass deportation and detention. An earned and orderly pathway to citizenship is strongly preferred. 

But the reality is that migrants will continue to make perilous journeys through rivers and oceans and across borders in search of safety and economic opportunity. The problem of illegal immigration will continue in the United Sates and other developed nations as long as there are desperate people seeking to flee poverty, violence and political instability.

The United States has often played a critical role in many of these conflicts by propping up or supporting military dictatorships and corrupt leaders because they seemingly were beneficial in protecting U.S. business interests or national security.

The long-term solution for Haiti and other developing countries is for richer developed nations to help them develop economically and build political stability and a stronger infrastructure. Meanwhile Haitian migrants in the United States should receive humane treatment.

Irv Randolph is an award-winning journalist. You can follow him on Twitter @IrvRandolph and at the RandolphReport@substack.com