Mayorkas cuts off reporter's false claim that Border Patrol whipped migrants: 'Let me just correct you'

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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas corrects White House reporter over Border Patrol 'whipping' claims

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas corrected White House reporter April Ryan in a press brief after she claimed that the U.S. government "whipped" Haitian migrants at the border in 2021.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas got into a spat with White House reporter April Ryan on Thursday after she accused the federal government of "whipping" Haitian migrants crossing the U.S. southern border in 2021.

After she brought up the old allegations, which the government debunked in an official investigation, Mayorkas corrected her and declared it never happened. The reporter again insisted it did, which prompted Mayorkas to state for the record that her claims at this briefing were "corrected."

The exchange took place Thursday at the White House press briefing, during which Mayorkas came out to give the press an appraisal of the chaos ongoing at the U.S.-Mexico border and what the Biden administration plans to do about it.

BORDER PATROL CHIEF FUMED AT BIDEN ADMIN'S HANDLING OF WHIPPING CONTROVERSY, EMAILS SHOW

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks at a news conference on Wednesday ahead of the lifting of Title 42. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Ryan, the White House correspondent from The Grio, used the opportunity to bring up the nearly two-year-old charge that federal agents on horseback were "whipping" Haitian migrants who had surged to the border.

Pictures taken of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents on horseback in Del Rio, Texas, in 2021, prompted the accusation. The agents were photographed using "split reins," which are whip-like in appearance, to control their horses and lead fleeing migrants into U.S. custody.

The distinct reins encouraged many on the left, including President Biden himself, to accuse Border Patrol of whipping the migrants. At the time, Biden responded to the incident telling reporters, "I promise you, those people will pay. There will be an investigation underway now, and there will be consequences. There will be consequences."

The complaint that grew so loud that Mayorkas ordered a federal investigation into the charge. He parroted the narrative at the time, saying, "Our nation saw horrifying images that do not reflect who we are. We know that those images painfully conjured up the worst elements of our nation's ongoing battle against systemic racism."

CBP FINDS ‘NO EVIDENCE’ BORDER PATROL AGENTS WHIPPED HAITIAN MIGRANTS BUT STILL SEEKS TO DISCIPLINE THEM

Journalist April Ryan appears on "The View" on Oct. 20, 2022. (ABC/Screenshot)

However, the investigation revealed there was "no evidence that [Border Patrol agents] involved in this incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any migrant with their reins."

Despite all this, Ryan confronted Mayorkas on Thursday, saying that the whipping happened. While reminding Mayorkas that more than just Mexicans are crossing the border, she mentioned Haitians and the incident, saying, "But the southern border is not just Mexicans. It is Haitians, it’s Africans, as we have seen, particularly with that issue with the Haitians being whipped with the reins on the horses."

Mayorkas cut in to set the record straight, saying, "Well, let me just correct you right there because actually the investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur."

CBP FINDS ‘NO EVIDENCE’ BORDER PATROL AGENTS WHIPPED HAITIAN MIGRANTS BUT STILL SEEKS TO DISCIPLINE THEM

An indignant Ryan shot back, stating, "I’m sorry, I saw it differently. They were whipped with something from the horse — reins from the horse. Maybe either the video or picture was fixed, but what I saw was totally different. I’m sorry."

Mayorkas discounted her claim, saying, "Yeah, I’m gonna leave you as corrected." Ryan then moved onto another question. 

A U.S. Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop a Haitian migrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2021. (PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)

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Ryan later doubled down on her claims on Twitter, posting a photo from the 2021 encounter, saying, "Maybe its [sic] just me but!"

She followed with two other tweets, one posting another photo, with her own caption, "And one more the reign [sic] is how close or on the person?" She subsequently retweeted herself to cast aspersions on the federal investigation and claim, "Oh let me post this again especially after a White House official just told me they question the report too."