By Kevin Liptak, CNN
(CNN) — President Joe Biden harshly condemned images of Border Patrol agents on horseback rounding up Haitian migrant families in Texas, saying those responsible for the actions will be punished.
“It’s horrible what you saw. To see people like they did, with horses, running them over, people being strapped, it’s outrageous,” Biden said at the White House.
It was his first substantive comment on the situation in Del Rio, Texas, where Haitian migrants have massed after crossing over from Mexico.
“I promise you: those people will pay,” Biden said. “There is an investigation underway right now and there will be consequences.”
“It’s an embarrassment,” Biden added. “It’s beyond an embarrassment. It’s dangerous, it’s wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It send the wrong message at home. It’s simply not who we are.”
An investigation was launched after video of Border Patrol agents on horse patrol aggressively confronting migrants surfaced earlier this week. Several top administration officials and congressional Democrats have expressed outrage over the images which appear 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 has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrol.
Asked whether he took responsibility for what happened at the border, Biden said he did.
“Of course I take responsibly,” Biden said. “I’m President.”
The-CNN-Wire
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