DHS IG Won’t Investigate Border Agents on Horses Falsely Accused of Whipping Migrants
However, DHS will not drop it. The IG knows the agents did nothing wrong, but the Biden admin has to save face after treating the agents like criminals.
Remember the photos and videos showing border patrol agents on horseback supposedly whipping Haitian migrants at the border?
Remember when Biden and Harris condemned the men? Remember when DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the photos “horrified” him?
We have common sense in the DHS, though! It’s obviously not coming from Mayorkas because our border situation still sucks.
The DHS Office of Inspector General (IG) announced it will not investigate the border patrol agents:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) initially referred the investigation to DHS’s Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG declined to investigate and referred the matter back to CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). OPR then immediately commenced investigative work, including its review of videos and photographs and the interview of witnesses, employees, and CBP leadership. OPR has followed customary process in its investigation of this matter.
Once completed, the results of the investigation will be provided to CBP management to determine whether disciplinary action is appropriate and, if so, the specific discipline to be imposed. At that time, the employees will be afforded due process, including an opportunity to respond, and any corrective actions will comport with applicable laws and regulations. The disciplinary process, which is separate from the fact-finding investigation, is subject to certain timelines established in CBP’s labor-management agreement with the employees’ union of the United States Border Patrol.
DHS remains committed to conducting a thorough, independent, and objective investigation. DHS will share information, as available, consistent with the need to protect the integrity of the investigation and individuals’ privacy.
So DHS as a whole has not dropped the investigation.
But the news is significant because the IG usually handles serious allegations and investigations. The IG would investigate the situation “if the conduct involved allegations of possible criminal activity.”
Biden promised “consequences” for the border patrol agents.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said the IG’s “decision indicates that Biden overstepped in September when he promised consequences for the agents.”
The agents did not do anything wrong. The IG will not investigate so DHS needs to drop the case.
Mayorkas promised swift and quick results, but it’s been two months. This is the first update in a while.
Could it be because there is nothing there? Mayorkas, Biden, Harris, and the rest of them will have more eggs on their faces.
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Comments
I’ll bet they’ve all been warned., “That was a close call. Be careful that you don’t wave your reins around in the future. Don’t wave your arms. Don’t point your fingers. Don’t look crosseyed. Just smile and say, “Welcome to America. Your check is waiting for you over there.””
OK, now how about some civil suits against the “journalists” and “government officials” who slandered/libeled these people?
Unfortunately not possible. They will argue, almost certainly correctly, that the agents are limited-purpose public figures, and that their error was made in good faith, i.e. they don’t even know one end of a horse from the other, let alone a rein from a whip, so they’re protected by NYT v Sullivan. After all, the original Sullivan case was about a similar claim, wasn’t it?
I agree. The 1A jurisprudence is mighty powerful on this point and it’s unlikely a defamation case could successfully be brought. It likely wouldn’t survive a motion to dismiss.
But, I would be curious if these employees have any avenue for a hostile work environment action considering some of the CLEARLY defamatory statements that came from the Biden administration….and Biden himself.
As far as I know there is no law against maintaining a “hostile work environment” as such. What is illegal is maintaining a hostile work environment on the grounds of race, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, age, disability or genetics, since the courts have decided that is a form of discrimination on those grounds, which is against the law. So here they would have no case.
I’m sure you’re right. It’s a sad commentary on the state of our society, however. Our “leaders” are actively tearing it down, and good hard-working people who are just trying to do their jobs and uphold the law in the process.
po’ horses
Don’t expect any sense from Mayorkas — a brainless prevaricator who insists that the border is “closed,” when a third-grader can see with his own eyes that it’s anything but.
You got that right henry.
They got the headlines they wanted out of it. Mission accomplished.
“We have common sense in the DHS, though!”
A temporary condition I expect …