A Haitian migrant who was photographed being yanked by the collar and dragged by a Border Patrol agent on horseback has sued the Biden adm...
A Haitian migrant who was photographed being yanked by the collar and dragged by a Border Patrol agent on horseback has sued the Biden administration earlier this week for his 'inhumane' treatment.
Mirard Joseph, the undocumented immigrant who said in the lawsuit he was bringing back food for his wife and child, called the widely-captured moment the 'most humiliating experience' of his life.
He's among 11 Haitian migrants being represented by attorneys of advocacy groups Justice Action Center, Haitian Bridge Alliance and Innovation Law Lab.
The widely published photos of him and other Haitian and South American refugees receiving brutal treatment at the hands of law enforcement sparked a humanitarian outcry.
Civil rights groups that had been aligned with President Joe Biden condemned him after officers whipped and forcibly restrained migrants crossing the Rio Grande.
Joseph and the 10 other migrants accused the Biden administration, including Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas of physical and verbal abuse and knowingly ignoring the rights of asylum-seekers.
Mirard Joseph (center) described being yanked and whipped by a mounted Border Patrol agent as the 'most embarrassing moment' of his life in a new lawsuit against the Biden administration
He and 10 other Haitian migrants are suing Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over inhumane treatment
Joseph said he had crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico to bring food and water back for his young family who were residing in a squalid encampment under the Del Rio bridge
Their lawsuit recounts in detail the squalid conditions that thousands of migrants were forced to reside in in an encampment under the Del Rio bridge in Texas.
At one point there were nearly 16,000 people packed in the tent city, overwhelming the Biden administration and prompting them to swiftly expel many of them under the COVID-19 pandemic-era health rule Title 42.
The lawsuit alleged Title 42 'has been brutally deployed against Haitians.'
Biden's continued use of the Trump administration rule has been criticized by left-wing and immigrants' rights groups.
Joseph said his family was subjected to hunger and extreme dehydration in the encampment when he decided to cross the Rio Grande to help them.
'After Mirard stepped out of the river, holding two bags of food for Madeleine and his daughter, he encountered a mounted officer,' the lawsuit states.
'As other officers looked on - some on foot, others on horseback or in official vehicles - the mounted officer shouted at Mirard, lashed at him with split reins, grabbed his neck, and held his collar.'
Another plaintiff said he saw the agents on horseback cutting a rope that migrants were using to cross the deep waters
It describes a confrontation lasting 'several minutes' during which Mirard's attorneys say the mounted agent was trying to drag the father back into the river, 'destroying' his shirt and causing him to lose his shoes.
'The officer released Mirard only when the horse was about to trample him,' the suit states.
Another plaintiff, identified as Esther, said she was attempting to cross the river with food for her baby when she was 'terrorized by officers on horseback' who were shouting 'go back to Mexico.'
Multiple accounts mentioned 'officers on horseback using reins as whips against people.'
Their union told the New York Times that they were simply doing what they were trained to do to deter people from getting too close to their horses and risking injuries.
Reports citing both public and private accounts indicate the Biden administration was caught flat-footed by the record surge of migrants at the border this year.
Migrants take shelter as they wait to be processed near the Del Rio International Bridge after crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S. from Ciudad Acuna in Del Rio, Texas, September 18
President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are named as defendants in the lawsuit filed in a Washington, DC court Monday
But the lawsuit, filed Monday in Washington, DC court, alleged that administration officials knew there were signs of an influx of migrants were coming around the time thousands of mostly-Haitian migrants were driven out of South and Central America by poverty and climate change.
Many of them had fled Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
The lawsuit claims the Biden administration knowing disregarded steps to prepare humanitarian aid for the incoming migrants in order to deter more from coming.
One person named in the suit as Paul said he saw agents cut a rope that migrants were using to cross the deep water safely.
DHS said in a statement in November that Customs and Border Protection would handle an investigation into the incident since the Office of Inspector General had declined to take action.
In September Biden slammed the images as 'outrageous' and vowed 'consequences' would be brought against those responsible.
'It's an embarrassment, but beyond an embarrassment, it is 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,' he said of the shocking footage.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who Biden tapped to solve the root causes of illegal migration, compared the officers' actions to the treatment of Native Americans and violence 'used against African Americans during times of slavery.'
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