Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the Biden administration to apologize for falsely accusing four Border Patrol officers mounted for whipping Haitian migrants on the southern border with Mexico last year.
“There’s no doubt that this was political,” Paxton told Fox News Friday, joining other Republicans in demanding a mea culpa from the president.
“And it’s really unfortunate that these border agents who have given their lives to secure our border and defend Americans [sic]. And here they are being punished; they should be rewarded, ”he added.
A 511-page report released by the U.S. Office of Customs and Border Protection this week found the allegations of whipping false and clarified the officers.
The investigation was triggered after images of agents on horseback in Del Rio, Texas, detaining Haitian migrants emerged in September, and President Biden falsely accused them of crimes.
“To see people treated the way they did … people with straps, it’s outrageous,” the president said before swearing, “I promise these people will pay.”
Border Patrol officers on horseback try to prevent Haitian migrants from entering the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on September 19, 2021. PAUL RATJE / AFP via Getty Images
Despite the findings of CBP, Biden insisted that officials find something about the agents. Border Patrol union leader Brandon Judd accused Biden of “a job of political success” against the four officers facing punishments ranging from a letter of discipline to dismissal.