Taking questions from reporters following remarks about COVID-19 boosters and the country's vaccination effort, President Joe Biden expressed harsh condemnation over images of Border Patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas.

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden expressed harsh condemnation over images of Border Patrol agents on horseback confronting Haitian migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas

  • The president acknowledged responsibility for the situation in his first substantive comments about the incident, but vowed that there would be consequences for the agents involved, pending an investigation being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security

  • "I promise you, those people will pay," Biden said. "There's an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences."

  • The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrols in Del Rio, Texas, but the Biden administration has faced bipartisan criticism over the migrant surge

"It's horrible what you saw," Biden said. "To see people like they did, with horses, running them over, people being strapped, it's outrageous."

The president acknowledged responsibility for the situation in his first substantive comments about the incident, but vowed that there would be consequences for the agents involved, pending an investigation being carried out by the Department of Homeland Security.

"I promise you, those people will pay," Biden said. "There's an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences."

"It's an embarrassment, but it's beyond an embarrassment," Biden continued. "It's dangerous. It's wrong. It sends the wrong message around the world. It sends the wrong message at home. It's simply not who we are."

The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday it has temporarily suspended the use of horse patrols in Del Rio, Texas, but the Biden administration has faced bipartisan criticism over the migrant surge.

The U.S. special envoy to Haiti resigned Wednesday, saying he refused to be associated with the “inhumane, counterproductive decision” to expel thousands of Haitian refugees back to the island nation.

Daniel Foote, who was only on the job for two months, wrote that, “Our policy approach to Haiti remains deeply flawed, and my recommendations have been ignored and dismissed, when not edited to project a narrative different from my own.” 

Foote added that conditions in Haiti are so dangerous that “American officials are confined to secure compounds because of the danger posed by armed gangs in control of daily life.”

The number of migrants at the Texas camp have been reduced to around 4,000, DHS officials said Thursday, after authorities ramped up efforts in the last day or so to remove migrants.

Officials said about 1,400 people had been expelled to Haiti and 3,200 transferred to other Border Patrol sectors to be processed either for expulsion or potential release, while several thousand have returned to Mexico. They also said the DHS is working with other countries to take some Haitians.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.