Brutality at the border: the Haitian refugee crisis explained
Biden’s handling of recent surge of Haitian migrants ‘indefensible’ - whatever your views on border policy, said USA Today
The Democrats are supposed to be the pro-immigrant party, said Nathalie Baptiste in Mother Jones. And Joe Biden is supposed to be the opposite of Donald Trump. You wouldn’t guess it, though, from the brutal way the administration has handled a recent surge of Haitian migrants.
After about 14,000 of them crossed the US-Mexico border and amassed under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, officials swiftly set about deporting them to Haiti, without the opportunity for asylum appeals or hearings. This despite the fact that many of the migrants have few ties to Haiti, having fled it years ago for South America. Worse still, images emerged of department of homeland security agents riding horses and “using whips” to corral the migrants – which were horribly reminiscent “of white men on slave-catching patrols”.
Those scenes were “indefensible”, whatever your views on border policy, said USA Today. There’s no context in which it’s appropriate for a government agent to be “riding down a defenceless, frightened black man” whose only crime was to seek refuge here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Liberal pundits have latched on to this detail, said National Review. But the agents didn’t whip anyone. They don’t even carry whips. They just twirled their reins, and used their horses to block people – a standard crowd-control measure.
Yes, some migrants have been deported, but many more have been let into the US. One official told the Associated Press that Haitian migrants had been admitted on a “very, very large scale”. They are issued with 60-day notices to appear at an immigration office, which most of them obviously ignore.
The administration’s insistence that the southern border is closed is disingenuous, said the New York Post. The flow of migrants across it is actually “at a 21-year high”, precisely because people realise Biden isn’t serious about stopping people. When the Trump administration received intelligence about caravans of migrants forming, it moved quickly to stop them, recognising that when people get through the border, word quickly spreads to other would-be migrants.
Trump’s team also pressured Mexico to cooperate in discouraging migrants. Biden took that pressure off. “Every bit as much as the disastrous Afghan pull-out, this is a crisis Team Biden created. And, yet again, its only ‘solution’ is to play dumb and outright lie about how badly it’s continuing to bungle.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
10 things you need to know today: January 7, 2024
Daily Briefing White House reportedly left unaware of defense secretary’s hospitalization, Biden to deliver State of the Union address on March 7, and more
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published