US Border Patrol Del Rio Sector Horse Patrol Controversary

Occupying the news cycle these past several days  was the still photos and political commentary on Border Patrol agents of the Del Rio Sector horse patrol 'aggressively' confronting migrants, who are largely Haitian, and being accused of using whips, later amended to be split reins, on the illegal aliens   to drive them back across the Rio Grande river  which separates the United States from Mexico.    

This bothers me greatly, as I know hundreds of Border Patrol agents, who are largely over worked, under appreciated, and given a near impossible task  at securing the Southern border all while being handicapped by politicians.

CNN reported that an investigation was launched after video of Border Patrol agents on horse patrol confronting migrants surfaced earlier this week. Several top Biden administration officials as well as congressional Democrats have expressed outrage over the images, taken by Al Jazeera and Reuters, which appear (in their view) to show law enforcement officers on horseback, including authorities swinging long reins near migrants who crossed the border near Del Rio.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrol in the Del Rio Sector. DHS Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said he was "horrified" by the situation. Vice President Kamala Harris called the incident "horrible" and demanded a swift investigation. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) described the incident as "worse than what we witnessed in slavery." President Joe Biden even suggested retaliatory action against the mounted Border Patrol agents on Friday, promising they "will pay" for their actions. "It was horrible you saw. To see people treated like they did. Horses nearly running people over and people being strapped," Biden said at the White House. "It's outrageous. I promise you those people will pay. They will be investigated. There will be consequences," he declared.

C'mom Man, sounds like ignorant pre-judging to me.

Nevermind that the photographer who snapped the now-infamous images of mounted Border Patrol agents said this week that he "did not witness any abuse of migrants contrary to what Democrats and the media have claimed". An Associated Press journalist who captured the incident on video released that footage on Friday, confirming Border Patrol agents did not abuse the migrants. And lets be clear, these people who are described as "migrants", really are illegal aliens. That is the term codified by law, statute and policy. In fact, Secretary Mayorkas recently fired Chief Rodney Scott, the Chief of the US Border Patrol for refusing to change all terminology in paper, policy and practice, from "illegal aliens" to "migrants". Scott's point was - change the law and written policy and the US Border Patrol will comply as the agency is a non-political law enforcement agency that will follow the law. His position costs him his job.

Several facts are lost in the discussion and frankly the irresponsible and politically motivated rush to judgement accusing USBP Del Rio Sector Horse Patrol agents of abusive actions concerning their attempts to contain illegal immigration this past week.

The horse patrol agent is responsible for the safety of themselves, their horse and the subjects they are interacting with who are on the ground. The subjects on the ground are openly committing an immigration crime and defying the agents' lawful commands.

A subject on the ground can grab the reins between the horse's mouth and the rider's hands and pull the horse over injuring the horse and the agent. A 1200 lb horse falling and pining the agent can easily result in a broken leg, pelvis, back, neck or head injury. These are all common with a rider going to the ground on his horse. This is particularly a danger on uneven terrain such as the banks of the river, with video showing the large rocks presenting a further hazard, or the uneven ground of the river bed.

A subject grabbing the reins connected to a bit in the horse's mouth, can also result in an injury to the horse's mouth including a cut or severed tounge. A horse with a severed tongue can to be put down as it cannot be reattached and the horse needs the tounge to eat - pulling fed into the mouth by the front teeth and moving that feed to the back molars using the tongue. A cut tongue is not a rare injury to a horse and is usually caused by the rider's heavy pressure using the on the reins. I have seen 8 year old children do this and cutting a horse's tongue even using a snaffle bit. A subject pulling one of the split reins from a rider's hand can also result in a horse stepping on the reins, again connected to the metal bit in the horse's mouth, and result in a mouth injury.

Lastly, even a first year prosecutor would likely concede that an agent using the end of the split reins to whack a subject's attempt to grab the reins, breast collar, saddle or agent would be at the low end of the Force Continuum, and since the agent must retain control of the horse often using both hands, and resorting to a baton or taser is impractical and dangerous to the agent and horse. Using OC spray is even more problematic. Image being on the back of already agitated 1,200 lb horse who has the wind blown OC spray into his eyes or nose.

I have worked with several agents on their horsemanship and as a Conservation Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) on horseback for several years, I often trained with other horseback LEO's and we trained to never let a subject, especially a suspect, near a position where the reins can be grabbed. We practiced turns on the front end in order to use the horse's back end to push people away and this is common across all horseback LEO's in other agencies.