• America The United States detains more than 180,000 migrants at the border with Mexico, the highest number to date

A series of photographs in which you can see border guards on horseback pushing Haitian migrants back near Del Rio, Texas, have caused a great controversy in the

United States

, whose government announced yesterday the opening of an investigation.

A photo by AFP photographer Paul Ratje shows a policeman catching a man by the shirt.

In another, an agent is seen holding off a group of people by brandishing the reins in a threatening manner.

Those images "of mistreatment of Haitian migrants at the border are

horrifying and very disturbing,

" said Democrat Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in a statement.

"It's a horrible thing to see," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted to the press.

"I don't have the whole context, but I can't imagine in what context that would be appropriate," he added.

Equestrian patrols were deployed Sunday near the Rio Grande, where thousands of migrants, mostly Haitians, camped in hopes of being allowed to enter the United States, said Raúl Ortiz, head of the border patrol.

"I asked them to find out if people were in danger and to gather information on smugglers," he added.

"

Controlling a horse in a river is difficult

."

Some agents apparently used their long reins to discourage migrants from crossing the Rio Grande at the Texas border with Mexico, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Monday.

Tense situation

The incidents occurred when several migrants went to wash in the Rio Grande or tried to cross to

look

for

food and take it to their family

, who were in the camp on US soil, said photographer Ratje.

Suddenly five or six agents on horseback arrived and demanded that the people return to Mexico.

"The situation was tense and the migrants began to run around them (...)

Many began to run to try to escape the horsemen

and one of the agents grabbed a man by the shirt and

made him spin while the horse I was jogging

in circles, "Ratje said of one of the photos.

"I don't think he was hurt," he added.

Thousands of Haitians try to cross into the US from Ciudad Acuna (Mexico) .PAUL RATJEAFP

Tension then eased and border guards allowed the migrants to join the camp.

"We are going to investigate the facts to verify the situation and thus understand it," Mayorkas told reporters.

Speaking in Del Rio, Mayorkas said Haitians were receiving false information about how to settle in the United States.

He said the government will increase repatriation flights for Haitians and that

US authorities consider it safe to return them to their country.

Haitians, Mayorkas explained, have been wrongly informed that they can stay in the United States as refugees under the "Temporary Protection Statute" (TPS), due to the political turmoil in Haiti and the recent earthquake that devastated it.

Mayorkas said he fears that Haitians "are receiving

false information that the border is open

or that temporary protection status is available."

"We have reiterated that our borders are not open and that people should not undertake this dangerous journey," he added.

"If you enter the United States illegally, you will be returned."

TPS has been available for years to Haitians left in the United States after the massive 2010 earthquake.

Following the worsening of the political crisis due to the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July, TPS was extended to all Haitians who were in the United States on or before July 29, but not to those who arrived later.

"No one who has arrived in the past week will be eligible to get TPS," Mayorkas insisted.

"We made an assessment based on the conditions in the country," he added.

"Haiti could receive people safely."

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