Some Democrats unhappy with Biden administration's response to Haitian migrants

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) – Democrats in Congress want answers from the White House after a controversial video showed law enforcement acting aggressively toward Haitian migrants at the US southern border.

Nine members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with officials of the Biden administration Thursday. They want an investigation of the video that appears to show officers on horseback swinging reins at the migrants near Del Rio, Texas.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) condemned the officers’ actions Wednesday. “I’m pissed,” she said. “I’m unhappy. And I’m not just unhappy with the cowboys who were running down Haitians and using their reins to whip them. I’m unhappy with the administration. What we witnessed takes us back hundreds of years. What we witnessed was worse than what we witnessed in slavery: cowboys with their reins again whipping Black people, Haitians, into the water, where they are scrambling and falling down. All they are trying to do is escape from violence in their country.”

Thousands of Haitians and other migrants are currently in Del Rio seeking refuge amid political instability and economic depression in their own countries. The Congressional Black Caucus has called for humanitarian assistance for the migrants. They also want the agents identified in photos on horseback to be removed.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrol in the Del Rio area and is investigating the incident.