FLASHBACK: SPLC Falsely Accused Border Patrol Agents Of Whipping Haitian Migrants
The now scandal-plagued Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) once falsely claimed that Border Patrol agents whipped Haitian migrants at the southern border, a review by The Daily Wire found.
In June 2022, the SPLC released a statement for World Refugee Day, stating that “U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback infamously chased Black Haitian asylum-seekers with reins raised like a lash.” The false narrative emerged after horseback Border Patrol agents were seen using their reins to maneuver around a horde of Haitian migrants crossing illegally into Del Rio, Texas, in September 2021.
At the time, the agents were outnumbered by a crush of thousands of Haitians that had amassed along the bank of the Rio Grande in a matter of days.
An internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) probe found that the agents never whipped migrants.
Before the investigative findings were released, several prominent Democratic politicians promoted the false narrative as photos and videos of the interaction went viral.
Then-President Joe Biden called the images “outrageous” and vowed that the agents “will pay.”
“It doesn’t matter if a Democrat or Republican is President, our immigration system is designed for cruelty towards and dehumanization of immigrants,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said at the time. “Immigration should not be a crime, and its criminalization is a relatively recent invention. This is a stain on our country.”
“This is so sick and @CBP will continue to commit human rights abuses if we don’t stop it now,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) said. “Cracking a f—ing whip on Haitians fleeing hardship shows you that this system simply can’t be reformed.”
“Use of whips on refugees? Disturbing and unacceptable,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said. “This must end immediately.”
The Justice Department announced a grand jury indictment against the SPLC, alleging that the left-wing group secretly funneled millions of dollars to white supremacist groups.
The SPLC was charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the group was “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.”
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