There’s a new sheriff in town, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem rode a horse at the U.S.-Mexico border to make sure everyone knows it.
Decked out in full glam, a cowboy hat and a border patrol-green jacket, Noem rode with mounted U.S. Border Patrol unit found to have used unnecessary force on a group of Haitian migrants seeking asylum in 2021.
“Well actually some of the agents we rode with today were the ones that were falsely accused of whipping the Haitian migrants,” she told Fox and Friends host Lawrence Jones, who also joined the ride. “To ride with them today and have them know that their leadership has their back I think is critically important.”
ADVERTISEMENT
In September 2021, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility launched a nine-month investigation after photos and video appeared to show agents mounted on horseback whipping Haitian migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande River.
The Biden administration called the footage “extremely troubling,” Politico reported.
The investigation found agents had not struck the migrants, though some did act in “unprofessional and dangerous ways.” One agent admitted to twirling his split reigns “as a distancing tactic,” which is not an official maneuver. The department planned to discipline four agents, but the U.S. Attorney General’s office declined to bring criminal charges in the case.
Officials stressed that the situation was extremely chaotic. About 15,000 migrants had gathered under the bridge connecting Mexico with Del Rio, Texas, and on Sept. 19, 2021, a large group—which included children—tried to cross the river using a boat ramp about a half-mile from the U.S. port of entry.
Some agents used force or threat of force to try to push the migrants back into the Rio Grande toward the border, even though they were well within U.S. territory, NBC News reported. At that point they should have been taken into custody.
Noem made it clear to Fox and Friends that she had no problem with the agents’ actions. The previous secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, “rode over” the border patrol agents, she said.
“I think it’s important today that they know I ride with them,” she added.
Noem’s pony stunt is just the latest in the parade of costumes that she’s trotted out since starting her new job as Secretary of Homeland Security. She showed up in full glam and in a bulletpoof vest to tag along last week on Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, earning her the nickname ICE Barbie.
