He finally broke his silence.
Joe Biden, beset with criticism for his management of the migration crisis on the southern border of the United States, assured Friday that there would be "consequences" for police officers photographed driving back Haitian migrants on horseback.
"It's not who we are"
"It's scandalous," the US president told reporters.
"I promise you, these people will pay, there will be an investigation, there will be consequences," said Joe Biden, responding to questions posed after a speech dedicated to the vaccination against Covid-19.
Asked by a journalist whether he was taking responsibility for the “chaos” at the border, he replied: “Of course I take responsibility.
I am the president.
It was horrible (…) to see people treated in this way ”.
“It's embarrassing,” he said before recovering.
“It's more than embarrassing.
It's dangerous.
It's bad.
It sends the wrong message to the world, the wrong message to us.
"
"It's not who we are," said the Democrat, who had promised in his campaign to treat immigration issues humanely, unlike Donald Trump.
His administration is criticized from all quarters as the United States has undertaken to deport Haitians massed at the border en masse.
Tens of thousands of migrants, mostly Haitians, have been piling up for several weeks in the Mexican towns of Tapachula, on the border with Guatemala, and Ciudad Acuña, on the border with Texas, where they live in the heat and in unsanitary conditions.
The left reproaches Joe Biden for his harshness, the right conspires what it considers to be laxity causing a migratory air intake.
The tension around these subjects rose further on Thursday, with the resignation of the American envoy to Haiti Daniel Foote, who denounced in a scathing letter “inhuman” expulsions.
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United States: Resignation of the envoy to Haiti, who denounces the "inhuman" expulsions of migrants
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Haitian migrants expelled: Joe Biden under pressure in the face of "despicable" images
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