US seeks to have lawsuit over agents accused of ‘whipping’ Haitian migrants dismissed

McALLEN, Texas ( Border Report ) — A hearing is scheduled Thursday on a lawsuit against the federal government by 16 Haitians who claim that they were improperly treated by Border Patrol agents on horseback in 2021 when thousands crossed the border from Mexico into Del Rio, Texas, to claim asylum.

The case is being brought on behalf of the Haitians by the nonprofit Haitian Bridge Alliance with help from law organizations, like the Innovation Law Lab and Justice Action Center.

A hearing on a motion to dismiss the case by the federal government is scheduled for Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Border Report has learned.

President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are named defendants in the civil case , along with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and it acting commissioner, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Health and Human Services and its secretary, and the CDC and its director.

The 126-page lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs were ill-treated by Border Patrol horse patrol riders.

The lawsuit claims plaintiffs saw “officers on horseback using reins as whips against people in the river.”

It claims the 15,000 mostly Haitians who crossed into South Texas at that time from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, were subject to unfair and inhumane circumstances while forced to live outdoors without proper food or supplies under an international bridge in Del Rio, Texas. The suit claims Title 42, which prevented asylum-seekers from coming into the country at that time to stop the spread of COVID-19, was unfair and unjust.

Title 42 was lifted in May 2023. The government’s motion to dismiss, which was filed June 10, 2023, claims: “While all other suits regarding such Title 42 orders have long been dismissed as moot, Plaintiffs seek to continue their litigation over these past events and policies. Although suits about the past have their place, past injuries generally do not provide plaintiffs standing to seek declaratory and injunctive relief, which are what Plaintiffs seek.”

In statement to Border Report, the founder and director of the Justice Action Center, Karen Tumlin, criticized Biden’s response and U.S. policies other than Title 42 as being “anti-Haitian.”

“We’ve illustrated in briefing that notwithstanding the cessation of Title 42, anti-Haitian immigration policies such as the asylum ban, adopted by the Biden administration in May 2023, and ongoing deportation flights back to danger continue to deter Haitian nationals from seeking asylum in the United States,” Tumlin said.

The suit also claims to create a form a class of plaintiffs, which Tumlin says will “represent the many who were under that bridge in Del Rio and who may not have a voice otherwise to seek justice.”

“When the world witnessed the events unfold in Del Rio, President Biden said he ‘takes responsibility’ for the ‘horrible’ treatment of Haitians and promised a swift investigation. But it has now been almost 3 years since the events that unfolded in Del Rio, and the Biden Administration has not taken accountability for its unlawful, discriminatory acts or continued deportation flights.” Tumlin said. “The world watched what happened in Del Rio and all the people who suffered deserve justice. There was an investigation, and we offered the investigators a chance to speak to our clients, but no migrant who was in Del Rio was interviewed as a part of the investigation. This courtroom in DC is truly the last stop for our clients to seek justice.”

The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights of due process were violated and it seeks compensation for legal fees.

The lawsuit claims that plaintiffs, like Mirard Joseph, of Haiti, and his wife, Madeleine Prospere, endured triple-digit heat living in the outdoor CBP processing encampment. It claims Joseph crossed the Rio Grande south back into Mexico to buy food and supplies for his wife and 1-year-old daughter because CBP did not properly feed or provide for the encampment.

Photos taken by media show several Haitians herded by the horse patrols and agents using their horse reigns in threatening manners.

The suit claims that when Joseph was returning with two bags of food “a U.S. officer on horseback bears down on him, lashing at him with split reins. For several minutes, the officer attempted to drag Mirard back to the river, releasing him only when he was almost trampled by the officer’s horse. Two days after the photograph was taken, Defendants took Mirard and his family to a detention facility. From there, Mirard and Madeleine were shackled, placed on a plane with their young daughter, and expelled to Haiti under Title 42. Mirard and his family never had the chance to seek protection in the United States.”

The Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility investigated claims that Haitian asylum-seekers were “whipped” and threatened by Border Patrol agents on horseback on Sept. 19, 2021.

In July 2022, CBP released the findings that “concluded that there were failures at multiple levels of the agency, a lack of appropriate policies and training, and unprofessional and dangerous behavior by several individual agents,” according to CBP.

However, the investigation “found no evidence that agents struck any person with horse reins,” the agency said.

“The investigative findings show that the agency failed to appropriately task, supervise, and exercise command and control over the Horse Patrol Units in Del Rio on September 19, 2021. Several Border Patrol Agents used force or the threat of force to attempt to drive migrants back into the Rio Grande River towards the U.S.-Mexico border, though there is no evidence that any migrants were forced to return to Mexico or denied entry to the United States. Additionally, the Office of Professional Responsibility found multiple instances in which Agents acted inappropriately during the incident, including one Border Patrol Agent who was found to have used denigrating and inappropriate language and to have maneuvered his horse unsafely near a child,” CBP said.

A discipline review board was convened and four Border Patrol agents were referred for discipline and placed on administrative duties.

Border Report was in Del Rio reporting at the time of the events and was on the Del Rio International Bridge recording video on Sept. 17, 2021, and captured images of the Horse Patrol Unit riding near migrants and making them to walk certain directions but did not see any use of reins against them.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.

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