(Headline USA) The Border Patrol agents falsely accused of using horse reins to whip migrants are still prohibited from riding horses along the southern border, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The Department of Homeland Security cleared the agents involved in the controversy of all wrongdoing in a recent report, but their ability to do their jobs effectively is still being affected, said Chris Cabrera, a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council.
“They’re just not allowed on horseback,” Cabrera said. “There’s obviously no criminal element.”
The agents were forced to undergo an internal DHS investigation after photos of them chasing down migrants who had illegally crossed the southern border appeared to show them using their horses’ reins as whips. Further video evidence of the encounter, however, proved that the agents never “whipped” migrants.
Democrats, however, were quick to condemn the agents. Even the White House released a statement, calling the agents’ alleged behavior “horrifying.”
“I promise you, those people will pay,” President Joe Biden said at the time.
“There will be an investigation, underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences. It’s an embarrassment, but beyond an embarrassment, it is dangerous.
“It’s wrong, it sends the wrong message around the world, it sends the wrong message at home,” Biden said. “It’s simply not who we are.”
Shortly afterwards, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that Border Patrol would no longer be allowed to use horses at the border.
“We have taken very specific actions as it relates to the horrific photos that we — we’re not going to stand for in this administration,” she said.
Cabrera said it was obvious the agents were never going to get a fair investigation because of how the White House responded.
“These guys didn’t have a prayer. The first thing [Biden] says is ‘you’re gonna pay,'” Cabrera said. “The only mistake those agents did was going out there doing their jobs.”
